GOP Website Ad Twists Audio To Create Impression That “Obamacare” Is Indefensible

The Republican National Committee has released a website ad that has edited audio from the Supreme Courts’ hearing on the health care law. The editing has been done to try and present, Solicitor General Donald Verrilli as stumbling over words and basically, being unable to defend President Barrack Obama’s initiative.

Whilst playing the audio from the arguments, the ad shows a photograph of the Supreme Court Building. As Verrilli speaks, the ad flashes the words: “ObamaCare. It’s a tough sell.”

Even though during the actual remarks Verrilli did stop his opening remarks to take a drink of water and trip up a few times in the first couple of minutes of his presentation. The audio in the RNC ad merges and compresses those  moments in such a manner, to convey an impression that Verrilli interrupted his opening statements “twice, in a matter of seconds and stumbled over his words in quick succession.”

RNC spokesman Sean Spicer said “Our goal was to make the point of what a hard sell Obamacare is.” RNC in a statement said that “It seems that Obama’s lawyer hit a bit of a snag trying to defend the constitutionality of Obama’s health care takeover,””Maybe he’s beginning to realize something the American people already know: It’s hard to defend a law that is indefensible.”

Verrilli is not called by his official designation, solicitor general but he is identified as “Obama’s lawyer” in the ad. CNN’s legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, had called Verrilli’s arguments and stumbling a “a train wreck for the Obama administration.”

The changes that the RNC ad has made, to create the impression of Verrilli finding it hard to defend the health system, show him gulping water in quick succession, whereas both the times that he drank water were separated by a considerable gap of time. In the ad he can be heard saying, “Excuse me,” before clearing his throat and continuing: “Uh, it, uh, the, b-because the, uh, the, uh, the …” The sound of another drink of water comes and Verrilli again says, “Excuse me.”

However, the audio posted by the court, shows that though the solicitor general faced initial hiccups, he gathered composure later and answered questions put to him by the justices with calmness and self-control.