Justice Clarence Thomas may have been on the losing side of several major Supreme Court decisions this week, but that’s only making him a hero in many Republicans’ hearts.
After the high court delivered its final opinions of the term on Tuesday, Sen. Jim Banks (R-Indiana) exalted Thomas for his steadfast support of President Donald Trump’s agenda and dedication to conservative values.
Just hours earlier, Thomas issued a scathing 91-page dissent after the court rejected the Trump administration’s efforts to restrict birthright citizenship. In it, he argued that the decision “devalues” the sanctity of American citizenship and that he did not believe the opinion will “stand the test of time.”
The court’s liberal justices found allies in Chief Justice John Roberts and Trump-appointed Justice Amy Coney Barrett in the 5-4 birthright citizenship ruling, inciting fierce backlash from the right-wing world.
Barrett took the brunt of the outrage, having also penned the majority opinion shooting down the Trump administration’s bid to void a Mississippi law granting late-arriving mail-in ballots a grace period to be counted.
Though Trump packed the Supreme Court with a conservative majority during his first term, that didn’t prevent him from being dealt several devastating losses this session.
