Reid, in an appearance on Chris Hayes’ “All In” program, said the Supreme Court’s move on Thursday did not surprise her because of evidence that Thomas “has been on a mission to dismantle every institutional attempt to help and aid” people who have been disadvantaged in society.
“He ― like [Justice] Samuel Alito ― appears to operate from a kind of rage, a sort of cold rage, against the entire 20th century, the second half of the 20th century, which they find to be an affront to their own self-image and to their image of America,” Reid said.
“The ReidOut” host went on to praise Hayes for his remarks earlier in his program as she surveyed Thomas’ early life ― noting that Gullah was his first language before learning English and that a white nun aided him in his education.
“He has been assisted by white patrons really his whole life, and even now by very rich ones as they fly him around the country and, to your very point, he seems to deeply resent all of the assistance he got,” said Reid in a nod to Thomas’ ties to billionaire GOP donor Harlan Crow.
“And he wants to make sure that nobody like him ever gets that kind of help again because it helps his self-image so that he can lie to himself, and fool himself and maybe hate himself a little less for having gotten help all along his path to the Supreme Court.”
Reid later named “the most important thing to know” about Thomas’ confirmation hearings other than law professor Anita Hill’s accusations of sexual misconduct: polling that showed a majority of Black people who supported him at the time.
“And he has repaid Black people with scorn ever since,” she said.