The chairman of the January 6 committee investigating the Capitol riot previously called Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas an “Uncle Tom,” claimed the justice disliked black people, and accused Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of making “racist” remarks.
Rep. Bennie Thompson, a 74-year-old Democrat representing Mississippi’s 2nd Congressional District, made the comments in 2014 while appearing on a New Nation of Islam radio program during Barack Obama’s presidency. He has not responded to requests for comment from The Daily Wire.
“I’ve been in Washington. I saw three presidents now. I never saw George Bush treated like this. I never saw Bill Clinton treated like this with such disrespect,” Thompson said, Buzzfeed News reported at the time. “That Mitch McConnell would have the audacity to tell the president of the United States — not the chief executive, but the commander-in-chief — that ‘I don’t care what you come up with we’re going to be against it.’ Now if that’s not a racist statement I don’t know what is.”
“And there’s Uncle Tom, Clarence Thomas,” he said, prompting the host to laugh and distance himself from the remark, saying, “You said that, I didn’t.”
“It’s almost to the point to say this man doesn’t even like black people, he doesn’t like being black,” he said as they discussed Thomas, the Supreme Court, and affirmative action, according to Buzzfeed. “Because every decision where color had something to do with it, he went against it.”
“Yes sir,” responded the host. “That man don’t care nothing about us.”
Shortly after Thompson made the remarks, he was pressed by CNN to address whether “Uncle Tom” was a racially charged term. But the Mississippi Democrat stood by his remarks rather than backing down.
“For some it is, but to others it’s the truth,” he responded, before critiquing Thomas’ vote on voter identification and affirmative action Supreme Court cases.
“The people that I represent, for the most part, have a real issue with those decisions,” added Thompson. “All those issues are very important and for someone in the court who’s African-American and not sensitive to that is a real problem.”
Thompson is the chairman of the committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. The committee will air its first public hearing during primetime on Thursday at 8 pm ET.
Lawmakers on the House’s Jan. 6 committee have hired the former president of ABC News, James Goldston, to promote its findings as a “blockbuster investigative special,” Axios reported earlier this week. Goldston reportedly intends to make the findings “raw” enough that journalists will deem them credible but also sensational enough to capture the attention of Americans who have not followed the matter closely.
Our democracy is at stake,” Thompson told CNN of the investigation. “We have to defend our democracy. We have to defend our government.”