Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., stated Sunday that his support for Justice Clarence Thomas during his 1991 Supreme Court confirmation hearing was a "mistake." Clyburn made the remarks on NBC News' "Meet the Press," where host Kristen Welker noted his previous testimony in favor of Thomas' appointment.
"Absolutely not. I have made mistakes in my life," Clyburn told Welker. "And that’s one that I made, and I will own up to that mistake." He explained that at the time, he had faith that Thomas' background and experiences would inform his professionalism, particularly on the bench. Clyburn added that he and Thomas had worked together when Thomas chaired the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Clyburn led a state agency in South Carolina.
Clyburn had hoped Thomas would uphold precedents set by the Voting Rights Act and Civil Rights Act, but stated, "I had no idea that Clarence Thomas would rebel the way he has against his own background and experiences." He expressed disappointment that Thomas appeared to show little sensitivity to the environment in which he was raised in Pin Point, Georgia, by his grandfather.
During the 1991 confirmation hearing, Clyburn described Thomas as a "personal and professional friend, in spite of the fact that he shares a conservative Republican philosophy." By Sunday, however, Clyburn referred to Thomas as a "very angry rightist."
"I had hoped that Clarence Thomas would follow the modern underpinnings of that Constitution of ours, but he has not done so," Clyburn said. "In fact, he decided to go all the way from an angry leftist to a very angry rightist."
Thomas, in a recent interview with Sen. Ted Cruz, rejected the notion that his race dictates his political beliefs. "We had this saying [that there are] only two things I have to do: stay Black and die," Thomas said, referencing responses to expectations that individuals of a certain race must adhere to particular viewpoints. He stated that he declined such "deterministic views" and that deviating from them makes him a "walking contradiction" in the eyes of those with such perceptions.