President Joe Biden sent Jimmy Kimmel's son a thoughtful gift after heart surgery.
During a conversation with the president, 81, and Barack Obama at a fundraising event for the president at Los Angeles' Peacock Theatre on Saturday, June 15, the Jimmy Kimmel Live! host, 56, shared that his son Billy, 7, got a very special gift from the commander-in-chief after undergoing the procedure.
"When Billy had his open heart surgery, President Biden was very nice to send a letter, a card and a little stuffed Commander dog to Billy, which he loves very much. He thinks he's very special," the comedian shared.
Kimmel then made a joke that highlighted his support of the Affordable Care Act.
"Unfortunately, little Commander bit Billy's toe off so now he needs more healthcare, which, thanks to President Obama—"
"Fortunately he's covered," Obama, 62, finished for him.
"So thank you, I guess is what I'm trying to say," Kimmel concluded the bit.
The late-night host didn't go into detail about what was written in the letter, but Commander is the president's dog, who has been removed from the White House after several biting incidents.
Billy has had three open heart surgeries to date to correct a congenital condition called tetralogy of Fallot, in which four different heart defects affect normal blood flow through the heart. It's unclear when President Biden sent Billy the gift, but Kimmel announced that his son had undergone the most recent procedure at the end of May.
"This weekend, our boy Billy had his third (of three, we hope) open heart surgeries. We went into this experience with a lot of optimism and nearly as much fear and came out with a new valve inside a happy, healthy kid," Kimmel wrote on Instagram on May 27.
He went on to thank the staff at the hospital for taking good care of his son, "loving strangers" who pray for him and his family, and his wife, Molly McNearney, for being "stronger than is reasonable for any mom to be."
"Billy, you are the toughest (and funniest) 7-year-old we know," he wrote to his son, who celebrated a birthday in April.
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