Stephen Colbert praises Jimmy Kimmel's 'beautiful, heartfelt' comments about health care
"Last night was one of the rare times I did not just watch our show. I also watched our dear friend Jimmy Kimmel," Colbert said on his CBS show Tuesday.
Kimmel opened Monday's "Live!" with an emotional story about his newborn son, Billy, who had emergency heart surgery just three hours after his birth over the weekend. Kimmel also segued the story into a call for affordable health care in the US and an endorsement of funding for healthcare programs and research. He also criticized Republican efforts to dismantle coverage of preexisting conditions (his son's heart defect would be considered a preexisting condition), which is insured under Obamacare.
Kimmel teared up as he told his story about his son.
"I just want to say to anybody out there, that if you haven't seen Jimmy's monologue last night - about his child, who was born with a heart defect and they had to have surgery and the first surgery was successful and thankfully his son Billy is home with him and his wife - please go watch it," Colbert told his viewers.
"It's an absolutely beautiful, heartfelt story," Colbert continued. "And it's a call for all people to have access to the same quality health care, because it is a basic human need, and an aspect of our dignity as citizens of the United States."
Watch Colbert's appreciation of Kimmel's monologue below: