Former Federal Election Official Slams Effort to Remove Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas as Leftist Attack on Government Institutions
A recent effort to remove Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has been met with criticism from a former federal election official who sees it as the latest example of an attack by the left on the country’s government institutions. Law professor and former FEC Commissioner Brad Smith cited polling results that fly in the face of popular media narratives, implying that Republicans are more trusted to protect democracy than Democrats. Smith noted that “the ongoing Thomas smear campaign is one of many reasons why polling consistently finds that Americans are more prone to view Democrats than Republicans as a threat to democracy, despite a decade of Democratic campaigning on the claim,” adding that this goes “so much against the narrative of most of the press, against the academic community, of which I’m a part, and that, to me, was a very interesting thing.”
Scrutiny of Justice Thomas
Justice Thomas has been under scrutiny and facing calls to resign after a report outlined gifts and benefits he allegedly accepted while on the highest court in the land. However, these are just the latest attempts to delegitimize Thomas or seek to upend the Supreme Court. The justice has long been a target of the left over the decades, though one ethics compliance expert characterized the current scrutiny as “grasping at straws.”
Polling Results
Smith pointed to polling results by different, generally respected pollsters, that consistently show a plurality of people view Democrats as the greater threat to democracy, including a Marist poll in November 2021, which found that Democrats, by one percentage point, were the party that posted the biggest “threat” to democracy. In a Rasmussen poll from December 2021, 37% of voters saw Democrats as the bigger threat to democracy compared to 26% who felt that way about Republicans. A Fox News poll also showed a similar result last June when 46% of registered voters said Republicans would do a better job of protecting democracy compared to 45% who said Democrats.
Politicization of Government Institutions
The left is also in the midst of a push to expand the Supreme Court in what critics call “packing,” to add Democrat picks and shift its balance to a more favorable liberal ideology. These are only some examples of the politicization of government institutions and questioning of US norms, according to experts. This comes after Democrats’ highly publicized objections to the confirmation of Justice Brett Kavanaugh, violence surrounding the overturning of abortion precedent Roe v. Wade, and Democratic legislators in Tennessee and Minnesota recently refusing to follow House procedures.
A Perception of Democrats
At the root of the issue is that many Americans have a perception that Democrats are “fundamentally opposed to the American project,” and this is evident when the left attempts to rename schools that are named after Founding Fathers. Smith said the left generally seems to be “less interested” in the Constitution. While both parties have their fair share of faults, Smith suggests it’s worth asking the question why so many people view Democrats as a threat to democracy despite the prevalent media narrative that Republicans are the ones to fear.
Conclusion
The ongoing effort to remove Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is seen by some as the latest example of an attack by the left on the country’s government institutions. Polling results suggest that Republicans are more trusted to protect democracy than Democrats, despite a decade of Democratic campaigning on this claim. The left’s push to expand the Supreme Court, its objections to the confirmation of Justice Brett Kavanaugh, violence surrounding the overturning of abortion precedent Roe v. Wade, and Democratic legislators in Tennessee and Minnesota recently refusing to follow House procedures, all contribute to the perception that Democrats are “fundamentally opposed to the American project.”
