MSNBC’s Elise Jordan reminded the GOP that “dead babies” do not make for good messaging, in a segment about conservative backlash to Jimmy Kimmel’s emotional monologue on his newborn son’s congenital heart disease.
Kimmel’s 13-minute open from Monday night described his baby son’s health condition, and slammed President Donald Trump for attempting to cut the National Institutes of Health by $6 billion, saying “if your baby is going to die and it doesn’t have to, it shouldn’t matter how much money you make.”
Most viewers were moved by Kimmel’s monologue, with the exception some in the conservative media, who took issue with its political bent.
Perhaps most notable was a story written by conservative writer Charles Hurt in the Washington Times, with the headline “Shut up, Jimmy Kimmel, you elitist creep”.
Outspoken former congressman Joe Walsh also took to Twitter to slam Kimmel, who — let’s repeat — is the father of a newborn baby suffering from heart complications:
Sorry Jimmy Kimmel: your sad story doesn’t obligate me or anybody else to pay for somebody else’s health care.
— Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) May 2, 2017
Jason Johnson, politics editor at TheRoot.com, said on MSNBC that the response to Kimmel was “tacky,” “grotesque,” and “not the hill you want to die on.”
Jordan, in response to the Washington Times story, pointed out that “this is a really disgusting example of people picking the absolute wrong issue to stake an ideological claim.”
“This is just basic messaging that the GOP could really learn a lot from,” she continued. “Let’s not talk about dying babies, and say we’re OK with dead babies as a reason to justify our health care plan. Not good messaging.”
[image via screengrab]
Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.com
