On Thursday, the “Big Three” (ABC, CBS, and NBC) network morning shows all touted President Obama confronting an LGBT activist who heckled him at a White House event on Wednesday but only ABC’s Good Morning America was the only network morning show to cover the highly anticipated Supreme Court cases regarding ObamaCare and gay marriage.
Today co-host Savannah Guthrie introduced the network’s Thursday morning broadcast by teasing how Obama was “heckled at home...President Obama takes on a vocal visitor to the White House. How did she get in in the first place?”
Later in the broadcast, news reader Natalie Morales touted how despite being interrupted by an LGBT activist, because it was at the White House “[t]his time though he wasn’t going to stand for it” before she played a clip of the president reprimanding the protestor. The NBC anchor continued to promote the president’s “new rule” about protestors in the White House:
The heckler protesting the administration's deportation policy but was eventually escorted out. The president joked with the crowd saying, as Matt said earlier, as a general rule he's fine with a few hecklers but not when they're in his house, eating the hors d'oeuvres and drinking the booze. So, there you go. That’s the new rule.
CBS This Morning provided similar coverage of the White House confrontation with Charlie Rose admiring how Obama told the protestor “I’m in the people’s house and I make the rules” with his colleagues Norah O’Donnell and Gayle King stressing Obama’s message that heckling is okay “just not in his house.”
On Wednesday night, the CBS Evening News was the only network evening news show to promote the White House confrontation while NBC Nightly News and ABC World News did not cover the story during their broadcasts.
While ABC’s Good Morning America did cover the president scolding a heckler, Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl actually noted that despite the incident Obama took time to discuss “a little more serious news” which included the president discussing the upcoming Supreme Court cases:
Substitute host David Muir noted that both the ObamaCare and gay marriage rulings could have “potentially huge implications” across the country before Karl detailed the cases before the court:
Huge implication, David. In fact, these may end up being the two biggest Supreme Court decisions of the entire Obama presidency. You could see same-sex marriage established as a constitutional right and there's a potential that you could see ObamaCare basically destroyed by the elimination of those subsidies that help people buy insurance through ObamaCare. Those digs we are told from the Supreme Court will come down either today, tomorrow or Monday.
See relevant transcript below.
ABC’s Good Morning America
June 25, 2015
DAVID MUIR: We’re going to move to that strange and uncomfortable moment at the White House. That scene President Obama heckled while speaking during an event he was hosting and ABC's Jon Karl is at the White House. And Jon, the president seemed to be drawing the line at being interrupted in his own home.
JONATHAN KARL: David, you don't often see the president getting heckled right here at the White House but that is exactly what happened at a reception here last night. The protester was protesting the deportation of transgender undocumented immigrants and as you can see, she really irritated the president.
BARACK OBAMA: Yeah. Listen, you're in my house. You're not going to get a good response from me by interrupting me like this. Shame on you. Can we escort this person out? You know, my attitude is if you're eating the hors d'oeuvres, you know what I'm saying? Okay. And drinking the booze. I know that's right.
KARL: And by the way, David, did speak to the heckler afterwards and she told us she did have some of that White House food and she did drink some of that White House champagne before heckling the
president.
MUIR: Yeah when you're invited over for hors d'oeuvre and a few drinks you might want to save the heckling till later. In the meantime Jon, to a little more serious news. When the president was allowed to talk without interruption he talked about the Supreme Court. Two major decisions coming. Same-sex marriage and ObamaCare. These could have potentially huge implications.
KARL: Huge implication, David. In fact, these may end up being the two biggest Supreme Court decisions of the entire Obama presidency. You could see same-sex marriage established as a constitutional right and there's a potential that you could see ObamaCare basically destroyed by the elimination of those subsidies that help people buy insurance through ObamaCare. Those digs we are told from the Supreme Court will come down either today, tomorrow or Monday.
