U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas lamented the lack of “honorable” holders of public office as he mocked Sen. Cory Booker’s performance during Brett Kavaunagh’s Senate confirmation hearings.
“Honorable – if we could use that word about more people who are in public life, people who actually ask the questions at confirmation hearings instead of ‘Spartacus,'” Thomas said last week to laughs from a crowd listening to him speak at a Federalist Society event in Texas.
“But if we could use the word ‘honorable’ more often, think about the difference it would make: then you’ll have a legacy. We would have left in country in better shape morally, structurally, than we found it,” Thomas continued.
From last week, Justice Clarence Thomas: “Honorable – if we could use that word about more people who are in public life, people who actually ask the questions at confirmation hearings, instead of ‘Spartacus’…”
Watch full @FedSoc conversation – 7pm ET on C-SPAN2 #SCOTUS pic.twitter.com/PNgIofgvJC
— CSPAN (@cspan) September 12, 2018
Thomas’ comments were aired late Wednesday on CSPAN and stemmed from a question about ensuring the “legitimacy” of the Supreme Court. They follow Booker, D-N.J., claiming to have had an “I am Spartacus” moment when he allegedly violated Senate rules by releasing emails related to Kavanaugh, even though the documents had already been approved for public dissemination.
Thomas, appointed by former President George H.W. Bush, joins a host of Republican lawmakers who openly mocked the New Jersey Democrat for his remarks.
“I am Spartacus” in a reference to a line from “Spartacus,” a 1960 movie in which slaves stand up and say “I am Spartacus” to protect the leader of their revolt.
Thomas weighed in on the contentious hearings before U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Wednesday called modern-day confirmation processes a “highly partisan show.”
“The way it was, was right. The way it is, is wrong,” she told an audience at George Washington University, referring to her own appointment in 1993. “I wish I could wave a magic wand and have it go back the way it was.”
The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday delayed its vote on Kavaunagh’s candidacy for the highest court in the nation to Sept. 20.
