The View co-host Sunny Hostin condemned Republicans Friday for “using the Black card” to defend embattled Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas over how he and wife, Ginni Thomas, benefitted from a billionaire donor.
Hostin’s comments came after a clip of Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) saying of Thomas, “He’s obviously been targeted because he’s a conservative Black man, and he’s on the Supreme Court, in an effort to undercut the legitimacy of the court.”
“It’s been interesting,” said co-host Joy Beyhar, adding:
BEHAR: Cornyn, a Republican, says basically, it’s a racist attack, which is what he said when he was appointed to the Supreme Court, back in the day, when Anita Hill accused him of sexual harassment. And they said it was a high-tech lynching of a Black man then, and now they’re also saying it’s racist.
HOSTIN: They use the race card more than I do.
BEHAR: Touché! What do you say to that?
HOSTIN: It’s not true. I think the worst part of the fact that they’re using the Black card in that way is that it lessens the real degradation when it happens to African Americans in this country. So I think that’s, you know, that’s just smoke and mirrors.”
Clarence Thomas is in ethical hot water for neglecting to disclose gifts he and his wife, Ginni, received from billionaire GOP mega-donor Harlan Crow that included luxury travel, a real estate deal that allowed Thomas’ mother to live rent-free, and private school tuition for Thomas’ grandnephew.
“When I was a federal prosecutor it was made very clear to us that we couldn’t accept gifts over $25,” Hostin recounted. “I didn’t accept anything because I didn’t ever want someone to say, well, that really cost $25.99, now you’re in trouble. If a federal prosecutor, a line federal prosecutor, which is one of the lower-level positions, would know better, how can we trust the Supreme Court of the United States of America when they don’t seem to either know better or care?”
Ana Navarro found a silver lining to the GOP defense of Thomas before laying out the real “problem.”
“It’s nice to see Republicans, for a change, defending a Black man,” Navarro said to audience applause. “The problem with Clarence Thomas, the problem is not that he’s a Black man. It’s that he has a sugar daddy and he’s on the Supreme Court.”
Watch The View clip above.
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