Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (NY), a prominent black House Democrat, has stepped up his attack on Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, drawing pushback from one of the conservative judge’s allies.
In a tweet pulled from a House hearing this week, the House Democratic Caucus chairman asked, “A simple question for Justice Clarence Thomas. Why are you such a hater?”
It was apparently in reaction to the likely decision by conservative judges to overturn Roe v. Wade and Thomas’s observation that too many can’t deal with things that don’t go their way.
A simple question for Justice Clarence Thomas.
Why are you such a hater? pic.twitter.com/hMLoWo1FSc
— Hakeem Jeffries (@RepJeffries) May 11, 2022
Then, Jeffries tied his attack to Thomas’s wife, Ginni, who has been under fire in liberal media for her support of efforts to look into allegations of 2020 vote fraud.
“Have a conversation with Ginni Thomas. She refused to accept the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election. Why?” said Jeffries. “Because she didn’t like the outcome. … Because the former twice-impeached so-called president of the United States of America lost legitimately to Joe Biden. How did she respond? Instead, she said the Bidens should face a military tribunal in Guantanamo Bay on trumped-up charges of sedition. You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Clarence Thomas says Supreme Court won’t ‘be bullied’ by abortion protests https://t.co/IvqR3PtMHw
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) May 7, 2022
At another hearing last month, he chased after a Thomas ally who charged that black liberals can’t accept that Thomas is black and conservative.
“What evidence do you have to support that incendiary charge?” he asked former Trump official Mark Paoletta, who responded that a key black House member, Jan. 6 special committee Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson, had called Thomas an “Uncle Tom.”
Paoletta said that Jeffries then turned away. But this week, in comments to Secrets and in a Newsweek opinion article, he provided a list of examples of black liberals attacking Thomas because he has dared to be, and remain, a leading conservative in the country.
At @HouseJudiciary hearing, @RepJeffries asked for evidence to support my assertion the Left hates Justice Thomas b/c he is a black conservative. After I noted @BennieGThompson called him an Uncle Tom, @RepJeffries shut me down. Here is my answer, with examples. @JudiciaryGOP https://t.co/Ldm0YNJF0U
— Mark Paoletta (@MarkPaoletta) May 11, 2022
“I think I triggered him,” Paoletta told Secrets today.
“It was astonishing that Rep. Jeffries asked me for evidence,” he added of his earlier clash with the lawmaker.
“The black leadership pursues far-left policies that are not reflective of the views of most black Americans, like the NAACP opposing school choice. Perhaps the NAACP’s position is driven by all the money they get from the teachers union, which wants to protect mediocre teachers at the expense of children getting a good education. Shame on them. Rep. Thompson justified his ‘Uncle Tom’ racist slur by pointing to Justice Thomas’s views supporting voter ID laws and opposing affirmative action, but polling shows a majority of black Americans agree with Thomas. You can’t make this stuff up. It’s Rep. Thompson and the black leadership that are out of step with the views of most black Americans,” he added.
