For the second time in three years, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on Thursday swung across the liberal-conservative border and saved Obamacare – and in the process health coverage for roughly 6 million people. In retaliation, he’s been branded Enemy #1 by conservatives, who have been calling him a traitor – or worse.
Roberts joined the 6-3 majority in deciding federal subsidies for Americans in 34 states that didn’t set up their own health care exchanges were legal, Business Insider reports. The digs started with conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, who said in his dissent that the law should now be called “SCOTUScare.”
Roberts smiled & laughed when Scalia said Obamacare should now be called ‘SCOTUScare,’ my colleague @ErinMershon reports
— Josh Gerstein (@joshgerstein) June 25, 2015
Media Matters reports that Quinn Hilyer of the National Review called Roberts a “disgrace” in an attack on the justice after the decision was made public. In a brief post to The Corner, Hilyer called Roberts “results-oriented, “ruling on big cases based on what he thinks the policy result should be or what the political stakes are for the court itself.”
If Obama had a son he would look like #TRAITOR Chief Justice John Roberts.. #FULLREPEAL#REPEALOBAMACARE#TCOT#TEAPARTY
— RightWingArt (@RightWingArt) June 25, 2015
Not many have the courage and balls to say what many smart people are thinking. “Was Justice Roberts BLACKMAILED?” //t.co/pyKCPvckCl
— Wayne Allyn Root (@WayneRoot) June 25, 2015
Dan Gainor of the conservative Media Research Center went on a Twitter rampage, calling Roberts a “scumbag” and accusing him of corruption, saying he cares more about “what journalists and historians write about him than the actual frikkin’ law.”
Shocker, scumbag Roberts who said Obamacare was a tax, also defends it against the way law written. Roberts was an awful pick. — Dan Gainor (@dangainor) June 25, 2015
Andrew Napolitano, judicial analyst on Fox News, said Roberts undermined his credibility, reaching “bizarre and odd contortions in order to save this statute twice. The court is now in the business of saving a statute in order to save its reputation,” according to The Blaze.
Republicans should be asked: knowing then what you know now, would you have voted to confirm Chief Justice John Roberts? — Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) June 25, 2015
The judiciary, John Roberts included, is now just the water boy for the welfare state. pic.twitter.com/c28g5XgEDD
— Andrea Tantaros (@AndreaTantaros) June 25, 2015
This is the Roberts court’s second Dred Scott decision. Third World bullshit. #tcot #KingvBurwell — Matthew Vadum (@vadum) June 25, 2015
Does Obama invite John Roberts over for popcorn & a movie? Second time the chief justice has saved Obamacare
— HowardKurtz (@HowardKurtz) June 25, 2015
SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER