Overview
- Speaking at the University of Texas at Austin, Justice Clarence Thomas said progressivism rejects the Declaration’s claim that rights come from a Creator rather than government.
- He cast progressivism as incompatible with the nation’s founding order and invoked Woodrow Wilson while linking the ideology to Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini, and Mao.
- Opinion writers in MS NOW and Salon called the address overtly political and said such claims are alarming from a sitting Supreme Court justice.
- Critics argued that real rights are secured by laws and citizen action, citing civil-rights gains and warning that the Voting Rights Act faces erosion.
- Commentary also connected his message to Christian-nationalist signals in the Trump administration, noting a prayer in Jesus’ name by the defense chief, an Easter email from the agriculture secretary, and a post casting the president as Jesus.