Former Clarence Thomas adviser talks Fox Nation documentary on contentious confirmation
'The Confirmation Chronicles Vol. 2' shines a light on the untold story of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' consequential 1991 confirmation hearings.
On "Fox and Friends," a longtime adviser and colleague of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas drew stark parallels between the treatment of Justice Brett Kavanaugh and his former boss.
Armstrong Williams worked for Thomas when Thomas was Chairman of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and he is featured in the new Fox Nation documentary, “The Confirmation Chronicles Vol. 2: High-tech Lynching,” which re-examined the fraught Thomas Supreme Court confirmation hearings.
Co-host Brian Kilmeade asked Williams what viewers will take away from this documentary.
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"It makes us realize that there are special interest groups that have such control and influence over members of Congress, people in academia, people in entertainment that Justice Thomas will never, ever forget the harassment charges against him. I mean this seems like it was a century ago, and it makes you never focus on what he does on the Supreme Court every day... And yet we continue to focus on harassment," said Williams.
In the “The Confirmation Chronicles Vol. 2: High-tech Lynching,” Williams said that Thomas predicted that his reputation would be damaged, even after the Senate hearings concluded and he was sent to the Supreme Court.
Williams recounted his conversation with Thomas, telling Fox Nation, "He said 'Buddy, the liberal media and these special interest groups will stop at nothing to change the minds of black people about me. I give you 15 to 20 years and I guarantee you the opinion of me will be unfavorable among that community."
A 1991 Gallup Poll conducted near the end of Thomas/Hill testimony showed that public opinion was with Thomas. 58% of Americans said they favored the Senate confirming him and 30% were opposed.
Williams went on to argue that "special interest groups" are now intent on destroying Kavanaugh's public perception.
"They want an asterisk by [Thomas'] name, same as they want by Kavanaugh. They want to dumb them down. This is how people want them to be remembered. Not for their character, not for the impact -- especially Thomas -- is having on the court almost 25 years later," Williams said.
The mention of the word 'asterisk' is a reference to recent remarks from an attorney for Kavanaugh accuser Christine Blasey Ford.
In a video, Ford attorney Debra Katz said, "In the aftermath of these hearings, I believe that Christine’s testimony brought about more good than the harm misogynist Republicans caused by allowing Kavanaugh on the court. He will always have an asterisk next to his name. When he takes a scalpel to Roe v. Wade, we will know who he is, we know his character, and we know what motivates him, and that is important. It is important that we know, and that is part of what motivated Christine.”
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Fox and Friends co-host Ainsley Earhardt observed, "There are so many parallels between Justice Kavanaugh and Justice Thomas, when you talk to your friend Justice Thomas, is it worth it?... To be on the high court, what a high honor... but is it worth it?"
"Yes... Listen for the first few years when Thomas was on the court, he was still trying to figure out what happened. Why did this happen to me? Why was this -- this character assassination?" answered Williams.
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"The thing that we forget, what Thomas said, when he used 'high-tech lynching,' we have to remember the context... he said 'This is reserved for uppity black people.' Uppity black men who don't know what to think. Who don't know their place. Who don't know what to say. And this is what the elite in academia, and in entertainment, and in politics, this is what they do, because 'How dare you believe, how you feel the way you feel about issues like family values, and crime, and abortion and these issues' and he didn't know this place and so they reserved this thing he called the 'high-tech' lynching for him."
Williams remembered that toward the end of the 1991 hearings Thomas was prepared to give up a Supreme Court seat to save his reputation.
"There were three days of hearings and on the Friday they just thought it was doomed because all the allegations and things that people we're hearing it was like some X-rated show that you are listening to. And all of the sudden Thomas said 'You know, forget about my being confirmed. I don't care about that anymore. I want to fight for my name.'" concluded Williams.
'The Confirmation Chronicles Vol. 2: High-tech Lynching' is available exclusively on Fox Nation.
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