Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’s hospitalization this week from an infection inspired some on the Left to celebrate his illness — underscoring the level of vitriol that has come to surround Supreme Court vacancies or even the possibility of them.
Court officials said Sunday that Thomas had been admitted to a hospital in Washington, D.C., on Friday evening after experiencing “flu-like symptoms,” noting doctors would likely discharge him “in a day or two.”
Attacks on Thomas quickly began to circulate on social media from both prominent and lesser-known accounts, prompting some conservatives to point out the difference between social media reactions to the hospitalization of Thomas and the hospitalization in 2020 of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg for an infection in July 2020. Ginsburg died weeks later in her home.
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When RBG was committed to the hospital, conservatives offered their thoughts and prayers.
Yet when Clarence Thomas finds himself in a similar positions, liberals are instead offering their death wishes.
Disgusting and evil.
— CJ Pearson (@thecjpearson) March 20, 2022
The venom ranged from veiled to more overt as liberals expressed their eagerness to see one fewer conservative on the bench.
For example, Adam Brinklow, a freelance reporter who works with a San Francisco paper called the Frisc, responded to Thomas’s hospitalization by saying he hopes “a certain thing happens” to the 73-year-old justice.
I sure hope a certain thing happens.
— Adam L Brinklow (@AdamLBrinklow) March 20, 2022
Jordan Holmes, a podcast host and writer, actively cheered for Thomas to die.
In regards to Clarence Thomas, I am currently chanting “Die, Die, Die, Die” if you would like to join me
— Jordan Holmes (@gotobedjordan) March 21, 2022
Ed Burmila, a writer who has published work in the Washington Post, wrote that “it would be incredibly awesome” if Thomas died. Others with large followings echoed that sentiment.
Before you say anything about Clarence Thomas’s illness, bear in mind that whether or not you agree with his politics he is a human being with feelings and loved ones and it would be incredibly awesome if he died.
— preorder CHAOTIC NEUTRAL now (@edburmila) March 21, 2022
Breaking: justice Clarence Thomas is in the hospital with a serious infection. And yes, you’re thinking it too
— WTFGOP? (@DogginTrump) March 20, 2022
I won’t cry when Clarence Thomas dies.
Just letting you know in case you were worried about that.
— THEE Aggressively Black Bianca (@TheeKHiveQueenB) February 8, 2022
The attacks stood in contrast to the reaction of most of the Right in the wake of Ginsburg’s illness in 2020.
Ginsburg’s death in September 2020 at the height of the contentious presidential election inspired a different kind of heated political debate over how and when the confirmation process for her successor should begin.
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As with the hypothetical vacancy that would arise if Thomas were to leave the court, Ginsburg’s death removed a liberal voice from the bench and gave Republicans, who controlled the Senate and the White House, the opportunity to replace her with conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett.
Appointed to the bench in 1991 by former President George H.W. Bush, Thomas frequently votes with the conservative bloc, and his absence would give Democrats an opportunity to dilute the conservatives’ ideological hold on the court.
Thomas’s illness comes as the national focus is already on the Supreme Court. Confirmation hearings began this week for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, who President Joe Biden nominated to replace retiring Justice Stephen Breyer.
