Jimmy Kimmel has used his newborn son’s health scare to lambast President Trump for trying to cut $6 billion in funding from the National Institutes of Health, while applauding Congress for increasing funding by $2 billion.
Kimmel returned to front his show on Monday evening, after taking time out for the birth, and announced that his son, Billy was born with heart disease. Shortly after his wife Molly McNearney, who is the show’s co-head writer, gave birth, it was discovered that there was a problem with the newest member of the Kimmel family.
It turned out that the problem was with his heart and would require open-heart surgery at three days old. “It was the longest three hours of my life,” Kimmel said, while choking back tears. At 10 days old little Billy is progressing just fine although he will need another operation within a few months, and a third later. Kimmel went on to thank all the staff at both California’s Cedars-Sinai Hospital, where Billy was born, and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, where the surgery was performed, as well as his family and friends for all their heartfelt support. “We had atheists praying for us,” Kimmel said. “Even that son of a bitch Matt Damon sent flowers.”
Kimmel went on to say that it is experiences like his that prove why all Americans need access to health care, especially those who like little Billy are born with preexisting conditions. “If your baby is going to die and it doesn’t have to it shouldn’t matter how much money you make,” he said. “I think that’s something that whether you’re a Republican or Democrat or something else, we all agree on that, right?”
But Kimmel didn’t just use his show to put down Trump, He also shared a link for those who wish to donate to the hospital to help other sick children.