ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel and Comedy Central’s The Daily Show host-of-the-week Ronny Chieng continued their dishonest attacks on the GOP’s spending bill, dubbed The Big Beautiful Bill, on their Thursday shows, calling it “mostly ass,” “cartoonishly mean,” and insisting people should “say goodbye to grandma.”
After reacting to a clip of a blooper of NPR’s Roben Farzad on CNN referring to the BBB as the BBL, which stands for Brazilian Butt Lift, Chieng introduced another couple of clips, “But after months of negotiating, last night Republicans stayed up all night and passed the Big Beautiful Bill. And maybe BBL was a better name because this bill is thick and mostly ass.”
In one of the clips, NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell reported, “Here's what's in it: It extends the president's signature 2017 tax cuts and that's at a cost of about $4 trillion, and that's paid for, in part, by nearly $700 billion in cuts to Medicaid, that healthcare program for those on the lower end of the income scale.”
Chieng did not appreciate that by extending the 2017 tax rates, the House prevented an income tax increase for nearly all Americans, not just the rich, “Wow, cutting healthcare and food stamps to pay for tax cuts. The only way this could be more cartoonishly mean to poor people is if it said Bob Cratchit has to work on Christmas Day… But this vote was very controversial, even among Republicans, who didn't like how it increased the debt by $4 trillion. Do you realize how much money $4 trillion is? No, you don't. Because none of it went to education.”
Neither Chieng nor Kimmel acknowledged the work reforms in the House’s Medicaid reforms. The latter began his show:
Well, it was another wildly destructive day in Washington, D.C. You know they pulled another all-nighter in the House last night where they passed Trump’s Big, Beautiful Bill. And man, oh man, if this is the beautiful bill, I'd hate to see the ugly one. I'm not sure which part of the bill is the most beautiful. I don't know if it's the part where we take food from hungry kids or the devastating effect it will have on college education or the trillions of dollars it will add to our national debt or the almost $700 billion in cuts to Medicaid. Either way, say goodbye to grandma because the bill passed with a vote of 215-214, or as Trump called it, a landslide.”
To try to make his point, Kimmel added, “Two Republicans voted no, including Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who strongly opposed the bill. He said, ‘We are not rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic, we're putting coal in the boiler and setting a course for the iceberg.’ Then said, ‘If something is beautiful, you don't do it after midnight.’ Which, that's true for me for sure.”
Of course, Massie voted no because he claims the spending cuts did not go far enough. One could argue Massie voted no so he could build up his own brand and portray himself as the ideal budget hawk and only principled man in Congress, knowing there were other members who were willing to be more pragmatic and accept a good, but not perfect, bill in order to prevent a major tax increase. Either way, if Massie had his way, Kimmel’s rhetoric would be even more apoplectic.
Here are transcripts for the May 22 shows:
Comedy Central The Daily Show
5/22/2025
11:02 PM ET
RONNY CHIENG: But after months of negotiating, last night Republicans stayed up all night and passed the Big Beautiful Bill. And maybe BBL was a better name because this bill is thick and mostly ass.
KELLY O’DONNELL: Here's what's in it: It extends the president's signature 2017 tax cuts and that's at a cost of about $4 trillion, and that's paid for, in part, by nearly $700 billion in cuts to Medicaid, that healthcare program for those on the lower end of the income scale.
FEMALE REPORTER: It also comes with cuts to social safety nets like food stamps.
CHIENG: Wow, cutting healthcare and food stamps to pay for tax cuts. The only way this could be more cartoonishly mean to poor people is if it said Bob Cratchit has to work on Christmas Day. He's just a frog! Why does he have to work at all? But this vote was very controversial, even among Republicans, who didn't like how it increased the debt by $4 trillion. Do you realize how much money $4 trillion is? No, you don't. Because none of it went to education.
***
ABC Jimmy Kimmel Live!
5/22/2025
11:35 PM ET
JIMMY KIMMEL: Well, it was another wildly destructive day in Washington, D.C. You know they pulled another all-nighter in the House last night where they passed Trump’s Big, Beautiful Bill. And man, oh man, if this is the beautiful bill, I'd hate to see the ugly one. I'm not sure which part of the bill is the most beautiful. I don't know if it's the part where we take food from hungry kids or the devastating effect it will have on college education or the trillions of dollars it will add to our national debt or the almost $700 billion in cuts to Medicaid. Either way, say goodbye to grandma because the bill passed with a vote of 215-214, or as Trump called it, a landslide. Two Republicans voted no, including Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who strongly opposed the bill.
He said, "We are not rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic, we're putting coal in the boiler and setting a course for the iceberg." Then said, "If something is beautiful, you don't do it after midnight." Which, that's true for me for sure.
