Comedian, late night host, and unexpected health care warrior Jimmy Kimmel has a new hero: Republican Arizona Sen. John McCain, who likely killed the Graham Cassidy health care bill to repeal Obamacare (loathed by Kimmel) after announcing his opposition to it on Friday.
Kimmel, who’s become very publicly involved in his quest to thwart the Graham Cassidy legislation—including with a number of segments on his Jimmy Kimmel Live! late night show this week denouncing it—tweeted his thanks to McCain, calling him a “hero again and again and now AGAIN.” That’s likely a reference to both the Senator’s Vietnam War record and his previous decision to unexpectedly defy Republican Party leadership to kill a different Obamacare repeal effort back in July.
Thank you @SenJohnMcCain for being a hero again and again and now AGAIN
— Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel) September 22, 2017
Kimmel became a staunch advocate for salvaging Obamacare’s consumer protections for Americans with pre-existing conditions after his newborn son Billy was born with a serious heart condition. Kimmel argued that millions didn’t have the resources he did to spend however much money was needed on medical services, and that no one should have to see their child die because of unaffordable health care costs.
Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana pledged that any Republican health care bill should pass a so-called “Jimmy Kimmel test” for pre-existing conditions. But multiple analyses suggested his eponymous Graham Cassidy bill wouldn’t meet that threshold. Kimmel called him out on the issue this week, going as far to say that Cassidy “lied” to Kimmel’s face, but Cassidy argued the late night show was incorrect.