Court system

Justice Thomas Blasts Progressivism in UT Austin Speech

Is Clarence Thomas a defender of America's founding principles or a hypocrite protecting power?

APR 17·Updated APR 18

Justice Thomas Blasts Progressivism in UT Austin Speech

Story

Above: Justice Clarence Thomas in Washington, DC, on Jan. 20, 2025. Image credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/Bloomberg/Getty Images

The Facts

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas delivered a roughly 50-minute speech at the University of Texas at Austin Law School on Wednesday, marking the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
The Washington Examiner
ABC News
During the address, Thomas said progressivism "seeks to replace the basic premises of the Declaration of Independence and hence our form of government," saying it treats government rather than God as the source of individual rights.
Newsmax
The Daily Beast
Thomas also traced the roots of progressivism to President Woodrow Wilson. "Since Wilson's presidency, progressivism has made many inroads into our system of government" and it can't coexist with the Declaration principles indefinitely.
Daily Wire
Newsweek
The Washington Examiner
Thomas asserted that progressive ideology globally contributed to "the most awful century that the world has ever seen," citing the regimes of Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini and Mao as examples of governments that opposed natural rights.
Newsweek
The Post Millennial
He criticized Washington officials who he accused of "recast[ing] themselves as institutionalists, pragmatists or thoughtful moderates" to justify failures of principle. He asked Americans not to be "passive spectators" in defending America's founding ideals.
Newser
FOX News
The Post Millennial
Thomas's speech came on the same day Justice Sonia Sotomayor issued a public apology for remarks she made about Justice Brett Kavanaugh at a University of Kansas appearance, saying her comments about his parents' background "were inappropriate."
Daily Wire
Common Dreams

Sources Split

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The Spin

Narrative A

Clarence Thomas calling progressivism a threat to America is a stunning act of selective memory — the civil rights movement he now condemns is the very reason he could attend Yale Law and sit on the Supreme Court. Rolling back voting rights and affirmative action while accepting undisclosed luxury gifts from wealthy donors isn't originalism, he's merely protecting his own power. The Constitution got stronger through progress, not by standing still.

Joshua Taylor on X

Jenny on X

Narrative B

Justice Clarence Thomas is absolutely right that progressivism poses an existential threat to America's founding principles. Progressivism shifts the source of rights from God to government, demanding a subservience fundamentally incompatible with the Constitution. A republic built on transcendent, unalienable rights cannot survive an ideology that makes those rights conditional on whatever the government decides to grant.