MSNBC Legal Analyst Says ‘We Know’ Clarence Thomas Was SCOTUS Affirmative Action Hire

MSNBC legal analyst Catherine Christian on Thursday said affirmative action was behind both a Yale education and a Supreme Court appointment for Justice Clarence Thomas, in the wake of the court’s ruling the practice unconstitutional.

Speaking with MSNBC anchor Ana Cabrera, Christian was joined by fellow MSNBC legal analyst Charles Coleman in a segment on the landmark decision in Students For Fair Admissions v. Harvard, for which Justice Thomas wrote a concurring opinion.

Cabrera asked whether there is an alternative way for colleges and universities to pursue diversity and inclusion absent affirmative action, and Christian pointed out that in states where that has been tried it has not “done well.”

“How do you diversify without taking race in account? What are you diversifying? You’re diversifying, you know, people’s income?” she asked.

She then went directly to suggesting Thomas is a hypocrite, as happened multiple times during that hour of MSNBC.

“Clarence Thomas, you know, he has criticized Affirmative Action. That’s how, that’s one of the reasons why he graduated from Yale. And we know that’s one of the reasons why he’s on the Supreme Court. So it, that someone like that…” she said, leaving the implication hanging.

CABRERA: I mean, is there an alternative that some states that you know of, have they have been able to apply?

CHRISTIAN: They have not done well. How do you diversify without taking race in account? What are you diversifying? You’re diversifying, you know, people’s income? You know, Clarence Thomas, you know, he has criticized Affirmative Action. That’s how, that’s one of the reasons why he graduated from Yale. And we know that’s one of the reasons why he’s on the Supreme Court. So it, that someone like that…

CABRERA: Part of his argument, like you’re not giving enough credit to people of color, that they can accomplish what it is you’re saying affirmative action is intended to help accomplish.

COLEMAN: The problem with that argument is that the issue is not the credit being given to people of color. The issue is the credit being given or the decision or the decision maker’s side. That’s the problem. The problem is never about whether people are qualified. The issue is whether those qualifications are going to be judged properly by people who are making decisions in such a way that is going to allow the continued access to these spaces by people who have been historically denied them.

Watch the clip above, via MSNBC.