Here’s how Obama’s first Chief Technology Officer defends the HealthCare.gov launch

It's no secret that the launch of HealthCare.gov was plagued with problems. But President Barack Obama's first Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra defended the launch, saying "glitches happen."

Chopra left the White House in 2012 to launch an unsuccessful campaign to become the lieutenant governor of Virginia. He made the comments about the HealthCare.gov launch during a discussion with Thomas Friedman at an Aspen Institute "Socrates Salon." When Friedman asked what happened to HealthCare.gov, Chopra admitted not everything had gone right, but asked the audience to "put it in the context that glitches happen." He then compared the issues to problems in commercial products, saying that it was like when United and Continental Airlines needed time after their merger to integrate their reservations systems, or how Twitter's fail whale made a lot of appearances during the 2010 FIFA World Cup as the service became overwhelmed.