Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel in a new interview said the idea that Democrats were “pulling my strings” on health care was “created by right-wing media outlets.”
Speaking to The New York Times, Kimmel confirmed a report from last month that he spoke to Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) about the ObamaCare debate.
“I talked to Chuck Schumer three times for, probably, a total of less than eight minutes,” he said. “As I’ve said, I didn’t know anything about health care and I wanted to educate myself beforehand.”
Kimmel said he reached out to “a lot of people.”
{mosads}“This notion that [Democrats] were pulling my strings is one created by right-wing media outlets. It’s just a way of putting a pin in something that scares them. I don’t know why the idea of making sure every American is taken care of should scare a politician,” said Kimmel.
“It certainly doesn’t scare the average guy who’s got a job that he doesn’t like and is afraid to quit it because he’s got a pre-existing condition and he may well not get another good job with insurance.”
Kimmel injected himself into the health-care debate earlier this year in a plea to lawmakers about pre-existing conditions as he disclosed that his son was born with a heart defect.
Kimmel said that ABC, the network that airs his show “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” has not had any issues with his political comments.