Obama once trashed the Supreme Court justice who just saved his legacy
For the second time under Chief Justice John Roberts, the Supreme Court delivered President Barack Obama a legacy-saving ruling on Thursday.
In fact, the Supreme Court has done so much to protect Obamacare that conservative Justice Antonin Scalia snarkily suggested it should be renamed "SCOTUScare" in his dissent.
But Obama and Roberts weren't always on the same page: As a US senator, Obama was one of just 22 Democrats who opposed his 2005 confirmation.
In a floor speech explaining his vote at the time, Obama reportedly praised Roberts' intellect but said he "far more often used his formidable skills on behalf of the strong in opposition to the weak."
"He seemed to have consistently sided with those who were dismissive of efforts to eradicate the remnants of racial discrimination in our political process," Obama said, according to ABC News. "In these same positions, he seemed dismissive of the concerns that it is harder to make it in this world and in this economy when you are a woman rather than a man."
On Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled by a 6-3 count that the Affordable Care Act could provide subsidies to millions of people who were insured through federal exchanges - a critical component to the overall law. In a 2012 ruling, the court decided by a 5-4 margin to uphold another crucial piece: the individual healthcare insurance mandate. Roberts wrote the majority opinion in both cases.