Heretofore known as a man of few words, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas broke his silence in a new PBS documentary released May 18 that shares his story and his perspective. In it, he offers a word of caution: Political choices have consequences, and they can often become permanent.

Thomas was speaking broadly about his confirmation battle, the sexual assault allegations leveled against him by Anita Hill, and the subsequent smear campaign that, to this day, Democrats insist on waging. But his advice is also applicable to our current political climate, since the memory of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing, which bore a striking resemblance to Thomas’s, is still fresh in our minds, and the sexual assault allegations made against presidential candidate Joe Biden threaten to upend his entire campaign.