MoveOn.org was using Jimmy Kimmel's plea for the Affordable Care Act to try and turn the tide on Thursday's planned vote in the House on a Republican "repeal and replace" option.
That came amidst reports, including on CNN, that Republicans had picked up a couple votes and could have enough to pass their bill, which did, in fact, ultimately pass.
Kimmel's personal story on his newborn's heart condition became a social media phenomenon, and the group was hoping to leverage that attention into calls to Hill switchboards to try and preserve Obamacare.
"Here's something you can do to help too: You can watch and share a 1-minute video of late-night talk show host, Jimmy Kimmel, describing his newborn son's urgent heart surgery, which wouldn't be covered under Trumpcare," the group said to supporters in an email late Wednesday. "It's the kind of personal reflection that has already broken through the noise to get national attention, and the kind of story that can quickly explain the stakes of tomorrow's likely vote."
"Jimmy Kimmel got it," said Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), following passage of the bill Thursday, suggesting the Republicans who voted for the new healthcare bill did not. Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.), father of FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, who joined Hoyer in a press conference following passage, said his mother had gotten a serious illness only for them to discover her insurance had run out and they spent her life savings just trying to make her comfortable. He called the bill "egregious and inhumane."
