Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, one of the most powerful and prominent black Democrats in Congress, doesn’t like Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. That much has been proved by prior events.
That said, I don’t think racially tinged speeches in which Thomas is called a “hater” because of his legal opinions on issues like abortion, election integrity laws and gay marriage is going to help his cause much.
Unfortunately, that advice comes a bit too late for Jeffries, the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus and a potential successor to Nancy Pelosi as Democratic leader in the lower chamber.
In a clip from a House Judiciary Committee hearing this week that the representative posted to his own account, Jeffries frequently called “brother Thomas” a “hater” for how he votes on the court and suggested he ought to control his wife’s opinions.
(This isn’t the first time that black liberals have attacked Thomas with implicit or explicit racial overtones — all because he dares to be a conservative African-American. Here at The Western Journal, we’ve documented the double standard on the left — and we’ll continue to do so. You can help us bring America the truth by subscribing.)
The clip was posted by Jeffries on Wednesday.
“Let me ask this question of brother Thomas,” Jeffries said. “Why are you such a hater?
“Hate on civil rights. Hate on women’s rights. Hate on reproductive rights. Hate on voting rights. Hate on marital rights. Hate on equal protection under the law. Hate on liberty and justice for all. Hate on free and fair elections. Why are you such a hater?
“And you think you can get away with it … escape public scrutiny,” he added, “because you think that shamelessness is your superpower.”
Do you support Justice Thomas?
While the rant was likely occasioned by Justice Thomas being one of five conservative justices who reportedly have signed on to a draft Supreme Court opinion leaked to Politico that would overturn Roe v. Wade, Jeffries also seemed to be taking issue with Thomas’ criticism of those on the left who have taken the news poorly.
“We are becoming addicted to wanting particular outcomes, not living with the outcomes we don’t like,” Thomas said last week, according to The Hill.
“We use stare decisis as a mantra when we don’t want to think.”
Jeffries then went low, saying that if he really believed this, he needed to “start in your own home.”
“Have a conversation with Ginni Thomas. She refused to accept the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election. Why?” Jeffries said.
“Because she didn’t like the outcome. … Because the former twice-impeached so-called president of the United States lost legitimately to Joe Biden. How did she respond? Instead, she said the Bidens should face a military tribunal in Guantánamo Bay on trumped-up charges of sedition. You’ve got to be kidding me.”
A simple question for Justice Clarence Thomas.
Why are you such a hater? pic.twitter.com/hMLoWo1FSc
— Hakeem Jeffries (@RepJeffries) May 11, 2022
Jeffries was referencing the House Jan. 6 committee’s release of text messages between Ginni, the justice’s wife, and former President Donald Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows in the wake of the 2020 election.
Ginni Thomas also attended the “Stop the Steal” rally held by then-President Trump on Jan. 6, 2021, which preceded the Capitol incursion.
However, no evidence exists that Justice Thomas holds his wife’s opinions, knew about his wife’s opinions, approved of his wife’s opinions and — here’s the important part — controls his wife’s opinions.
In no other context, of course, would a male politician be told they needed to control what their wife thought, even if what their wife thought was problematic. But, Thomas is a black conservative Supreme Court justice, which has made him a favorite target for a Democratic Party which has come to believe they hold exclusive rights to minority communities and any dissension is a racial infraction.
But don’t tell this to Jeffries, who takes umbrage when anyone insinuates that Democrats have an issue with Thomas’ race and political bearing.
At a hearing last month, he asked Mark Paoletta — a lawyer in the George H.W. Bush and Trump administrations who worked on getting Thomas confirmed, according to Newsweek — about statements he had made regarding the inability of leftists to accept a black conservative justice.
“What evidence do you have to support that incendiary charge?” Jeffries asked.
Paoletta said that when Jan. 6 special committee Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi “calls him an ‘Uncle Tom’ because of his views on voter ID and Affirmative Action … that is the most vile, disgusting thing you can say. So, yes, that’s evidence of” the phenomenon.
Jeffries then interrupted Paoletta and then noted, among other things, that “Chairman Bennie Thompson has an observation to make, he’s entitled to free speech.”
Rep. Jeffries: “What evidence do you have to support” that Dems hate Clarence Thomas because he’s a black conservative?@MarkPaoletta: The Chairman of this committee called him an Uncle Tom.
Rep. Jeffries: He has freedom of speech.
“Can I give you another example.”
“No.” pic.twitter.com/Wy1l6lSpKA
— Center for Renewing America (@amrenewctr) April 28, 2022
“Can I give you another example?” Paoletta asked.
“No,” Jeffries replied.
Geez. Why are you such a hater, Rep. Jeffries?
