NEW VIDEO: Pence defends Justice Thomas’ Corruption, Plans to Protect Broken Supreme Court from Oversight and Reform
Veterans are attending events in Iowa this week in partnership with United for Democracy to ask officials whether they commit to fixing the broken Supreme Court
In response to questions about whether he supports Supreme Court reform, former Vice President and presidential candidate Mike Pence defended Justice Thomas’ rampant corruption and neglected plans to support immediate reform
Pence “not convinced” that broken Supreme Court in need of reform and claims Congress should stay away because Court can “manage their own ethics”
View video HERE
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, United for Democracy (UFD) — a nationwide campaign created to shine a light on the impact of today’s Supreme Court on American lives, freedoms, and democracy — issued the following statement on a new video showing former Vice President and presidential candidate Mike Pence defending Supreme Court corruption and neglecting plans to support immediate reform. Pence showered praise on Justice Thomas, who is the leading justice repeatedly handing down decisions favoring the wealthy and powerful – all while accepting and failing to disclose luxury travel and gifts from rich “friends” who have business before the Court.
“Vice President Pence just said the quiet part out loud he is absolutely committed to protecting corruption on our court and preventing Congress from lifting a finger to fix this broken Supreme Court. Americans are seeing story after story about Supreme Court corruption and have witnessed more and more of their freedoms stripped away. Now, Vice President Pence is making it clear that he would rather stand with his billionaire benefactors and extreme ideological allies than families in Iowa and across the country,” said Stasha Rhodes, Campaign Director of United for Democracy.
See below for a transcript of the exchange.
Pence: Thanks for your service
Veteran: Of course. Do you have time for a quick question?
Pence: Who were you with?
Veteran: I was a 5831 correctional specialist. I did two years in Okinawa.
Pence: Is she with you?
Crowd member: No.
Veteran: I was hoping to ask you a quick question about Supreme Court judicial reform. I'm just hoping to get a yes or no question on if you're going to be okay with Supreme Court reform. I think they're doing a lot of bad things for America. I think that they're using the shadow docket to make decisions without transparency to the American people. I'm just wondering if you as a potential president are willing to reform the Supreme Court?
Pence: I believe in the separation powers of the Constitution. I'm confident that if there's a need for reform — and I'm not convinced of it. There's a lot of people in the press who are just going after Clarence Thomas. He's been the most consistent Conservative on the Court for decades.
Veteran: Sir, but I'm not just talking about conservative justices —
Pence: But I'm telling you, I really do believe that Chief Justice Roberts will have the ability. They can manage their own ethics with the Supreme Court. I have great confidence in them to do it.
Pence: And by the way, let me give you that.
Veteran: Oh, thank you so much.
Pence: Semper fi.
Veteran: Semper fi.
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United for Democracy is a diverse and growing coalition of more than 120 grassroots organizations, labor unions, and advocates for reproductive rights, gun violence prevention, the environment, workers’ rights and more, all representing tens of millions of Americans. The new nationwide campaign launched to educate Americans about the impact today’s Supreme Court is having on their lives, freedoms, and democracy — and call on Congress to rein in its unchecked powers.