Republican senators criticized Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s “disgusting” and “racist” comments about Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas during a recent U.S. Senate committee hearing.
“It would be unconscionable for this committee not to condemn this kind of rhetoric against Clarence Thomas,” said Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., while presenting an amendment to a Supreme Court ethics bill to “condemn the recent racist attacks” against Thomas.
You either condemn the racist attacks on Justice Clarence Thomas, or you don’t.
After a long discussion today, my Democrat colleagues on the Judiciary Committee finally agreed to condemn the disgusting racism that many have aimed at Justice Thomas. pic.twitter.com/tBptrybb0q
— John Kennedy (@SenJohnKennedy) July 20, 2023
He called the attacks against Justice Thomas “un-American” and “unconscionable.” “I mean, does anybody here support that kind of rhetoric? I don’t! I don’t think you do! And this kind of rhetoric hasn’t been directed towards … John Roberts … Neil Gorsuch, it’s been directed towards Clarence Thomas. And it’s un-American, it’s unconscionable, and I can’t believe we wouldn’t condemn it,” he said.
“I don’t understand the reluctance to accept the fact that Justice Clarence Thomas, who happens to be a black man, has been the butt of a lot of racist statements. And I don’t understand the reluctance to condemn those. And that’s what my amendment does,” Kennedy added.
Kennedy was supported by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who said Justice Thomas has been singled out. “Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison disgustingly likened Justice Thomas to a House slave from the film ‘Django Unchained.’ Are there any of the other nine justices who have been subject to such racist attack in the last few days from a sitting Democrat in the state of Minnesota?” Cruz said.
While there was some pushback from Democrats, Kennedy’s amendment ultimately passed unanimously after language was added to condemn racism against all current and former justices, Politico reported.
As Alpha News first reported, Ellison compared Justice Thomas to the character Stephen from Quentin Tarantino’s movie “Django Unchained” during an interview with the Michigan Chronicle last month.
“Anybody who’s watched the movie Django, just watch Stephen and you see Clarence Thomas. Clarence Thomas has decided that his best personal interest is siding with the powerful and the special interests regardless as to who they’re going to hurt,” Ellison said
Ellison then called for Thomas’ impeachment.
“Clarence Thomas needs to be impeached. Clarence Thomas is illegitimate and has no basis in the job that he’s in,” Ellison said. “It’s a lesson to us as African Americans. What is the lesson? We all thought, ‘Well, he’s a black man, raised in the deep south. He knows what racism and segregation is, he knows what affirmative action is. He’s going to come around one day.’ Understand that it’s not a matter of pigment. It’s not what’s on your skin, it’s what’s in your mind.”
Hayley Feland
Hayley Feland previously worked as a journalist with The Minnesota Sun, The Wisconsin Daily Star, and The College Fix. She is a Minnesota native with a passion for politics and journalism.
