Sen. Bill Cassidy responds to Jimmy Kimmel: “I’m sorry he does not understand.” Under new health care bill “more people will have coverage” pic.twitter.com/tOGCWkqoeE
— CNN (@CNN) September 20, 2017
During Jimmy Kimmel’s scathing monologue against the newest GOP healthcare bill — which will go to a vote in the coming days before the Sept. 30 deadline — the talk show host didn’t hold back. He used his own son’s healthcare conditions to make an emotional appeal while expressing disgust with the Graham-Cassidy bill — co-sponsored by Senator Bill Cassidy — and Kimmel accused Cassidy of “lying right to my face.” He also told the senator to “stop using my name” while pushing the healthcare plan, and he invited the senator to stake “a lie detector test” on his show.
Well, Cassidy followed up on Kimmel’s attack during a visit with CNN’s Chris Cuomo on New Day and doesn’t seem to be bothered at all. He pasted on a smile and asserted that Kimmel doesn’t know what he was talking about:
“I’m sorry he doe not understand. Under the Graham-Cassidy-Heller-Johnson, more people will have coverage, and we protect those with preexisting conditions … there will be billions more dollars to provide healthcare coverage … for those who have been passed by by Obamacare
Cuomo then rebutted Cassidy’s super-positive claims by pointing out that this bill won’t cover preexisting conditions in the same way as Obamacare. In response, the senator simply stated, “The protection is absolutely the same.” Cuomo pressed further, but Cassidy kept parroting his own statements and insisted that prices “would be lower.”
It must be noted that the CBO has yet to issue a score on the bill, so Cassidy’s claims are just that — claims. Yet given the CBO scores on all previous incarnations of the GOP’s efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare, it’s impossible to believe Cassidy’s saccharine statements at all.
Following Kimmel’s monologue, Cassidy released this brief statement, which also fails to make his case. Stay tuned for more GOP drama.
Here is Sen Cassidy's stmt in response to @jimmykimmel's opening monologue tonight where he criticizes Graham-Cassidy –> pic.twitter.com/By5tsZSkPt
— Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) September 20, 2017
(Via CNN)