Celebrities react to Jimmy Kimmel's tearful monologue about newborn son's heart disease

Jimmy Kimmel received an overwhelming amount of support from viewers and celebrities alike after sharing a tearful and passionate plea for national health care coverage inspired by his newborn son on Monday’s Jimmy Kimmel Live.

“Watch & prepare to tear up,” Hillary Clinton tweeted Tuesday morning. “Thanks @jimmykimmel for sharing your story & reminding us what’s at stake w/health care.”

“Well said, Jimmy,” wrote former President Barack Obama. “That’s exactly why we fought so hard for the ACA, and why we need to protect it for kids like Billy. And congratulations!”

“Love you @jimmykimmel,” Ellen DeGeneres wrote as many more figures, including Late Night host Seth Meyers and Veeps Julia Louis-Dreyfus, offered their support.

The comedienne later posted, “Welcome, Billy Kimmel! You have amazing parents funny, kind, beautiful. Your dad has some good qualities too.”

“Things got a bit dusty in the Meyers’ house this morning,” Meyers tweeted. “Love to the entire Kimmel family.”

Dreyfus called Kimmel’s monologue “touching and most powerful,” while Brad Paisley wrote, “Showing true grace my friend.”

See more reactions below.

The women on The View also discussed Kimmel on Tuesday morning’s show. “It should not be whether you can afford to save your kid’s life, it should be that you’re entitled to save your kid’s life,” Whoopi Goldberg said of his message.

She further echoed Kimmel in urging viewers to donate to children’s hospitals. “As we all worry and try to figure out what’s gonna happen with our health care, this is going to be what we’re gonna have to do,” she said. “We’re going to have to donate to places that are doing the work for the youngest people that we know.”

“I have a story to tell about something that happened to our family last week. I’m sorry. You know, I try not to get emotional, but it was a scary story,” Kimmel began his monologue on Monday, choking back tears.

He told the audience how his son, William, was born with a congenital heart disease. With William recovering from the surgery at home, Kimmel was moved to address other families that could have been negatively affected by President Trump’s proposed budget cuts to the National Institute of Health.

“We were brought up to believe that we live in the greatest country in the world. But until a few years ago, millions and millions of us had no access to health insurance at all,” Kimmel said. “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. You were born with a pre-existing condition. If your parents didn’t have medical insurance, you might not even live long enough to get denied because of your pre-existing condition. If your baby is going to die and it doesn’t have to, it shouldn’t matter how much money you make. I think that’s something that whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat or something else, we all agree on that, right? We do.”

Kimmel concluded his emotional account, “I saw a lot of families there, and no parent should ever have to decide if they can afford to save their child’s life. It just shouldn’t happen. Not here.”

“On behalf of my family, thank you for the lovely and loving tweets about our son Billy,” Kimmel tweeted in response to the support, while urging everyone to donate to the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

This article was originally published on ew.com