Sen. Lindsey Graham desperately smears Jimmy Kimmel for speaking up for kids like his son

Kimmel called out Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), co-sponsor of the Cassidy-Graham bill to repeal Obamacare, after he appeared on Kimmel’s show in May and made a series of promises about what his bill would contain.

Kimmel explained to his audience Tuesday night that Cassidy’s earlier promises were a sham:

When he was on this publicity tour, he listed his demands for a health care bill very clearly. These were his words. He said he wants coverage for all, no discrimination based on preexisting conditions, lower premiums for middle-class families, and no lifetime caps. And guess what? The new bill? Does none of those things.

Kimmel was blunt about Cassidy’s deception, noting, “This guy, Bill Cassidy, just lied right to my face.”

Cassidy issued an evasive and dishonest response to Kimmel the next morning, refusing to directly address his criticisms of the bill.

But because Republicans want a bill — any bill — to show progress in their attempt to dismantle President Barack Obama’s health care reforms, Kimmel is now coming under fire for exposing the legislation Republicans had hoped to pass without much scrutiny.

As is often the case when the right needs someone to be intimidated, Fox News took the lead. On “Fox & Friends,” the program on the pro-Trump propaganda “news” outlet that is Donald Trump’s favorite, co-host Brian Kilmeade went on the attack.

Kilmeade accused Kimmel of being a member of the “Hollywood elite” who is “pushing their politics on the rest of the country.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who is one of the driving forces behind the destructive bill, was teed up for an attack by Kilmeade on the same program.

KILMEADE: Sunday’s Emmys may have been the lowest rated in history, but that’s not stopping Hollywood elites like Jimmy Kimmel from pushing their politics on the rest of the country. […]

GRAHAM: And I bet you this, Brian, I bet you he never called Senator Cassidy and said “would you please set this straight,” I bet he looked at some liberal talking point, bought it hook, line, and sinker, and went after Bill Cassidy without talking to him, and I think that’s unfair.

Other right-wing media took shots at Kimmel as well. The Media Research Center complained that the host was “targeting Republican Senator Bill Cassidy and Senate Republicans with disgusting charges of aiming to do cruel things with the lives and healthcare of Americans” in a “nearly seven-minute-long tirade.”

The attacks show that Kimmel’s message, seen by millions in its original broadcast and probably more in YouTube clips and in other media reports, is resonating with a lot of people in a way that could seriously help to derail the toxic legislation.

The right would like Kimmel — and everyone agreeing with him on this important issue — to be silent.

Kimmel predicted the right-wing backlash to his powerful message, and made it clear where he stands:

And by the way, before you post a nasty Facebook message saying I’m politicizing my son’s health problems, I want you to know: I am politicizing my son’s health problems because I have to. My family has health insurance, we don’t have to worry about this. But other people do, so you can shove your disgusting comments where your doctor won’t be giving you a prostate exam once they take your health care benefits away.

Kimmel was right, of course. Conservatives didn’t wait to attack him. But clearly, that isn’t going to silence him.