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Conservative frustration with Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts boiled over earlier this year after he "saved" Obamacare.
President Barack Obama was administered the oath of office by Chief Justice John Roberts a second time on Jan. 21, 2009.
In a 6-3 decision issued on June 25 – penned by Roberts – the high court delivered a conclusive victory to President Barack Obama. It upheld that the administration could legally hand out healthcare subsidies in all 50 states.
The decision in King v. Burwell shocked conservatives on Capitol Hill, who accused Roberts of betraying the party by fortifying the key component of President Obama's legacy.
The same day as the Supreme Court's historical decision, the biggest Obamacare conspiracy theory surfaced and spread throughout right-wing media outlets:
Had Chief Justice Roberts been coerced into the decision?
There are two parts to this theory…
A Breakdown of the Obamacare Conspiracy Theory
Obamacare Conspiracy Theory, Part 1: The chief justice was bribed with stock shares.
Right after the Supreme Court announced its decision, a link appeared on The Drudge Report that went to a CNBC list of healthcare stocks. Many of them shot to all-time highs. Aetna Inc. (NYSE: AET) hit its year-to-date high of $132.60 – up 4% from $127.51 the day before. Cigna Corp. (NYSE: CI) also peaked that day at $169.77 – up 2.5% from $165.75 the day before.
On his June 25 broadcast, conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh urged listeners to check out this link and, from there, simply "follow the money." Limbaugh claimed the share-price increases were evidence that perhaps some in the Republican Party were more responsive to "money people" and "donors" over voters than others.
While Limbaugh added "I'm not accusing anybody of anything," he also maintained that "when you follow the money, a lot of questions that seem unanswerable become clear."
And then there was a more sinister scenario being tossed around…
Outstanding. I won't miss this one..