Jimmy Kimmel opened his ABC late-night show celebrating Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s decision to scrub the Graham-Cassidy “healthcare” bill for lack of votes.
“Thank you for joining us, on a day of great relief for many millions of Americans,” Kimmel said happily.
“On behalf of my family, especially my son Billy, I want to sincerely thank those of you who called your representatives, made your voices heard, and got involved to help smother this cruel piece of legislation,” he enthused.
Kimmel imagined the Oval Office walls now are filled with dozens of tiny little fist holes, after GOP Senators Susan Collins and John McCain said they would vote against the bill, breaking with with their party. President Donald Trump naturally lashed out at John McCain with a video of what Trump described as “A few of the many clips of John McCain talking about Repealing & Replacing O’Care. My oh my, has he changed-complete turn from years of talk!”
Responded Kimmel: “’My oh my?’ He’s so mad he turned into Scarlett O’Hara.”
McCain did not flip-flop, Kimmel corrected Trump, adding that McCain continues to favor repealing and replacing Obamacare – “Just not repealing and replacing with a flaming bag of dog crap.”
The late-night host was so tickled Trump would complain about someone changing a position, he ran his own clip job, of Trump’s about-faces on various subjects, observing, “Donald Trump has more flip-flops than a Jimmy Buffet concert.”
Kimmel also reported Trump attended a dinner the previous night, with conservative leaders, at which he called McCain a “disgrace” which Kimmel found disgraceful, especially given that the Arizona senator currently is battling an aggressive form of brain cancer.
“The same week Trump is telling the NFL to be more patriotic, he’s insulting a man with a Purple Heart,” Kimmel noted with disgust.
As MSNBC star Joe Scarborough had done Tuesday morning, Kimmel reminded viewers McCain served in the military and was captured while flying missions over North Vietnam, and spent more than five years as a prisoner of war, once declining an offer to be released because he refused to leave behind his fellow soldiers.
Meanwhile, “Donald Trump got out of even going to Vietnam because he had a bone spur in his foot; he got a deferment from Dr. Scholls,” Kimmel snarked.
This isn’t about “sides.” its about people who are sick, Kimmel concluded. “And to all the Senators and representatives who stopped this bill – thank you for being reasonable and know that we’re paying attention now and you’ll be hearing from us again.”
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