On Thursday's CBS This Morning, Norah O'Donnell played up President Obama's experience as a lecturer in constitutional law just hours before the Supreme Court upheld his health care law. O'Donnell trumpeted how the President apparently "paid so close attention to this - not only reading the opinions, but going back and actually listening to them on tape."
The correspondent also forwarded the White House's talking points on ObamaCare before and after the Court's decision came down: "This is something the President fought hard for, to equip some 30 million more people - have them get health insurance, and provide those who already have private health insurance additional coverage."
Anchor Erica Hill turned to O'Donnell five minutes into the 7 am Eastern hour and asked, "What are you hearing this morning from the President's advisers?" The journalist included her reference about the Obama's past experience in her reply:
And it is interesting, because the President is a constitutional law professor. So I've learned how much he has paid so close attention to this - not only reading the opinions, but going back and actually listening to them on tape. And I'm told that after he listened to those arguments, he told advisers privately that he would be very surprised if the Supreme Court overturned this rule. We'll see. Either way, we are expecting the President to address the nation after the Supreme Court rules.
When Hill followed up by asking about the possible political ramifications of the Court's decision, O'Donnell answered by touting how ObamaCare was "the President's signature piece of legislature of his first term. He said that it provides millions of Americans consumer protections; access to preventative care; so that insurance companies can no longer discriminate against those with pre-existing conditions."
Just over two hours later, the correspondent forwarded more of the liberal talking points during CBS's special coverage of the Court's decision:
O'DONNELL: ...[T]his is, in fact, a victory for the President, because his landmark piece of first-term legislation remains the law of the land. This is something the President fought hard for, to equip some 30 million more people - have them get health insurance, and provide those who already have private health insurance additional coverage.
Earlier in the week, on Sunday's Face The Nation, O'Donnell tried to find the silver lining for the Democrat if the Court ended up striking down ObamaCare: "Politically, it might be better for the President, because then he can put the onus back on the Republicans."
