Comedian Jimmy Kimmel struck a serious tone on his show Monday to talk about the birth of his son last week, who was discovered to have severe heart defects a few hours after he was born.
Kimmel became overwhelmed by emotion throughout the 13-minute monologue when he explained the whole story to viewers.
His son was diagnosed with a blockage of the pulmonary valve and a hole in the heart wall. He had to undergo open heart surgery, one of several he will need.
Then Kimmel turned to politics—Obamacare, specifically.
“You know, before 2014, if you were born with congenital heart disease, like my son was, there’s a good chance you’d never be able to get health insurance, because you had a pre-existing condition,” Kimmel said.
“If your baby is going to die, and it doesn’t have to, it shouldn’t matter how much money you make,” he continued. “I think that’s something that, whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat or something else, we all agree on that, right?”
He implored Democrats and Republicans to get over their partisan divides on the issue.
“This isn’t football,” he said. “There are no teams. We are the team, it’s the United States. Don’t let their partisan squabbles divide us on something every decent person wants.”