Clarence Thomas, the Supreme Court’s most senior justice, turned 75 on Friday… and he saw some two-year-old remarks about President Joe Biden go newly viral on Twitter.
Thomas and Biden agree on hardly anything, but they share a history.
In 1991, Biden was chairing the Senate Judiciary Committee, and he managed Thomas’ confirmation hearings.
At the time, Biden told Thomas, “Finding out what you mean when you say that you would apply the natural law of philosophy to the constitution is, in my view, the single most important task of this committee.”
After this introduction, Biden regressed to his characteristic rambling.
Biden said —
I just want to make sure we all know what we’re talking about here, that you and I know — at least — what we’re talking about here. There’s a fervent and aggressive school of thought that wishes to see natural law further inform the Constitution than it does now, argued against by the positivists led by Judge Borg [former Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork.]
Someone may apply it in a way, like Moore, who leads him in a direction that is “liberal.” You may apply it in a way that leads you in a direction that’s conservative, or you may, like many argue, not apply it at all. But it is a fundamental question that is going to be almost impossible for non-lawyers to grasp in an exchange. But you know — and I know — that it is a big, big deal.
Huh?
In late 2020, a reporter Thomas about Biden’s 1992 statements. The reporter asked, “Sen. Biden was very focused on natural law. How did that go?”
Thomas said what everyone was thinking.
“Who knows? I have no idea what he was talking about,” Thomas replied. “I have to be perfectly honest with you. You sit there, and you have no idea what they are talking about. All I know is that he was asking me these questions about natural law.
He added, “One of the things you do in a hearing is, you have to sit there and look attentively at people who you know have no idea what they’re talking about.”
Thomas made those remarks shortly after the 2020 election, but he watched them go viral again on his 75th birthday.
On Friday, one conservative journalist tweeted Thomas’ remarks with the caption “Clarence Thomas, who is 75 years old today, on Joe Biden’s gibberish.” The tweet amassed about 120,000 views by the end of the day.
Two and a half years after the Thomas interview, Biden has become president, and he’s still rambling.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Take a look —
The Horn editorial team