Clarence Thomas pokes the ‘progressive’ bear

He’s ‘totally right to remind Americans about our founding principles and the courage we need to hold on to them

By Jerry Newcombe

April 20, 2026

It’s not often that Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas speaks in public. Clarence Thomas has now served longer than anyone else on the court – since the fall of 1991.

What he said last week should be heard by every American. He called the nation back to our founding principles. The justice spoke to a full audience at the University of Texas at Austin in an event to honor America at 250.

Speaking of his grandparents, who reared Clarence and his brother, he noted, “They told us, ‘We don’t have no education and no chance, but you boys are going to have a chance, [and] we going to devote the rest of our lives to you boys. … It was their devotion, their love, their dedication to raising us right that has made the difference, not the words, though the words expressed as best they could what they intended to do, their devotion is what mattered.”