Jimmy Kimmel has received a lot of support following his announcement that his newborn son underwent emergency open-heart surgery a few days after birth.
However, Former Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) was not very sympathetic toward’s Kimmel’s news about his son, Billy.
He tweeted his reaction to the news on Tuesday, writing: “Sorry Jimmy Kimmel: your sad story doesn’t obligate me or anybody else to pay for somebody else’s health care.”
READ MORE: Barack Obama praises Jimmy Kimmel’s healthcare plea
Walsh was referencing Kimmel’s opening monologue on Monday night in which he made a case for former U.S. president Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act.
Kimmel’s son Billy was born on April 21, he said in the monologue.
“We were brought up to believe that we live in the greatest country in the world, but until a few years ago, millions and millions of us had no access to health insurance at all,” Kimmel said during Monday’s show. “Before 2014, if you were born with congenital heart disease, like my son was, there’s a good chance you’d never be able to get health insurance because you had a pre-existing condition.”
Twitter was quick to criticize Walsh for his tweet, with many people reminding the “deadbeat dad” of his $117,000 child support scandal, which he settled in 2012.
READ MORE: Jimmy Kimmel chokes up talking about his son’s heart surgery, 3 days after he was born
Actress Alyssa Milano joined the conversation, also asking Walsh about his previous child support troubles.
Kimmel, on the other hand, has thanked everyone for their well wishes and is asking for people to donate to the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles.
The late night host received support from Obama on Twitter Tuesday.
“Well said, Jimmy. That’s exactly why we fought so hard for the ACA, and why we need to protect it for kids like Billy. And congratulations!” Obama tweeted with a link to Kimmel’s Monday night opening monologue.
READ MORE: ‘This is now war, watch out Obama’: Former congressman Joe Walsh tweets after Dallas shooting
Kimmel held back tears when he told the audience about his son needing heart surgery three days after he was born.
He explained that the nurse had detected his son had a birth defect called tetralogy of Fallot with pulmonary atresia – a hole in the wall separating the right and left sides of the heart and a blocked pulmonary valve.
His son was transferred to another hospital where surgeons spent three hours operating on him.
“He went in with a scalpel and did some kind of magic that I couldn’t even begin to explain,” Kimmel said.
READ MORE: Jimmy Kimmel takes potshot at Canada’s bill to legalize marijuana
After thanking family, friends and hospital staff for the support of the family and his son’s treatment, Kimmel criticized U.S. President Donald Trump‘s proposed $6-billion cut in funding to the National Institutes of Health.
“If your baby is going to die but it doesn’t have to, it shouldn’t matter how much money you make,” Kimmel said. “I think that’s something, whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat or something else, we all agree on that, right? I mean we do.
Kimmel called on politicians to not let “partisan squabbles” divide them on issues such as a child’s access to medical treatment.
“No parent should ever have to decide if they can afford to save their child’s life,” he said.
“Watch & prepare to tear up. Thanks @jimmykimmel for sharing your story & reminding us what’s at stake w/health care,” Hillary Clinton tweeted.
—With files from Adam Frisk
Comments