The Media Fawning Over the Latest Jimmy Kimmel Hot Take Shows Precisely Why They Are Not Trusted

Fact: Jimmy Kimmel knows as much about public policy as Jimmy Buffet. But he’s made a name for himself by shedding tears on his show whether it has to do with Cecil the lion or the Las Vegas shooting. The problem is, Kimmel’s impassioned pleas are long on emotional tugging but short on facts.

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But the media doesn’t care because he pushes a narrative they like.

Kimmel’s latest tirade involved the CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Program) and the Republican tax cut plan. Kimmel, like a good little liberal, conflated spending on the program with “paying” for “tax cuts for the rich.” Without any sense of shame, Kimmel had his son who recently underwent successful heart surgery on the stage with him.

While all of it looks great, it doesn’t matter one bit when Kimmel is just flat out wrong. Here is some of what he said:

Now CHIP has become a bargaining chip. It’s on the back burner while they work out their new tax plans, which means parents of children with cancer, diabetes and heart problems are about to get letters saying their coverage could be cut off next month. Merry Christmas, right?

So this happened because Congress, about 72 days ago, failed to approve funding for CHIP since the first time it was created two decades ago. This is literally a life-and-death program for American kids. It’s always had bipartisan support. But this year, they let the money for it expire while they work on getting tax cuts for their billionaire and millionaire donors.

This is complete garbage. First of all, with the funding extension signed by President Trump last week, every state has enough funds for CHIP to last through January 31. Some states (such as Michigan) had their funding extended until April or May. The money did not “expire.” That is a flat-out lie. Here it is:

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While the stopgap does not change current government funding levels, it does include a provision to maintain the Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP, which serves nearly 9 million children and has been in limbo since its congressional authorization expired on Sept. 30.

Second, the House of Representatives voted to extend the program for five years. It passed but do you know where most of the no votes came from? Democrats. Why? Because the Republican bill said some of the CHIP funding would come from offsets that hit wealthy Medicare recipients. The very “rich” people Kimmel whined were getting tax cuts.

Stephen Miller aka Redsteeze on Twitter highlighted some of the media outlets that reported on Kimmel’s stunt:

Missing from all of these reports? Any refutation of Kimmel or an explanation of how he’s wrong on the facts.

They are grade-A examples of why conservatives hate the press. It’s not just about “making mistakes.” It is about blasting out nonsense without doing some actual reporting and getting somebody from the Republican Party or a legislator to offer up a rebuttal.

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Read the CNN version of the story. Why didn’t Frank Pallotta call Orrin Hatch’s office or Speaker Ryan’s office and ask, “Is Kimmel right?” How difficult would that be for him to do that? It wouldn’t be difficult at all. But too many reporters are too lazy to report. They’d rather parrot.

If people like Pallotta want to be trusted again, he should do his job and report, not just repeat.

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