Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton responded today to Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s sour reaction last night to the president’s criticism of a recent court decision to strike down a key campaign finance provision, according to a pool report.
“One of the great things about our democracy is that powerful members of the government at high levels can disagree in public and in private,” Burton said. “This is one of those cases.”
During last night’s State of the Union address, the president said, “with all due deference to separation of powers, last week the Supreme Court reversed a century of law that I believe will open the floodgates for special interests, including foreign corporations, to spend without limit in our elections.”
Alito cringed, pursed his lips, shook his head from side to side in apparent disagreement and appeared to mouth “not true.” [Video here].
Burton also emphasized that Obama believes the ruling does allow foreign corporations to invest in domestic campaigns.
“The American people deserve the right to know that foreign corporations cannot interfere with American elections,” Burton said. “This is another one of the issues that the president is looking at in terms of campaign finance reform.”
