Jimmy Kimmel ramps up battle against GOP health care bill

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Jimmy Kimmel used his late-night platform to continue his assault on the GOP health care bill, firing back at critics including U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy and "Fox & Friends" co-host Brian Kilmeade.

The ABC star on Wednesday was following up on his monologue from Tuesday, when he said the bill Cassidy is co-sponsoring failed the "Jimmy Kimmel test," a phrase Cassidy coined in May after Kimmel announced his newborn son underwent heart surgery for a birth defect.

The Louisiana Republican said Wednesday morning that Kimmel "does not understand" the bill. Kimmel mocked Cassidy's claim and called his proposal "the worst health care bill yet."

After Kilmeade labeled Kimmel a "Hollywood elite" pushing politics, Kimmel called Kilmeade "a phony little creep" who Kimmel says previously asked him to write a blurb for his book. Kilmeade disputed some of Kimmel's account on "Fox & Friends" on Thursday, saying he asked him to be a part of a sports book he wrote in 2003. He added that he hoped Kimmel's son gets better and told the host: "Continue to do a great job."