🎙️ Voice is AI-generated. Inconsistencies may occur.
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has continued to face scrutiny from critics over his relationships with influential Republicans and his wife's alleged involvement in Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Thomas, who joined his colleagues this week in voting unanimously to keep Trump on the Colorado Republican primary ballot, has faced calls to recuse himself from Supreme Court decisions that may affect Trump's election campaign and Special Counsel investigations.
As Thomas faces criticism, several social media posts suggested he had stormed out of Supreme Court proceedings over rulings and decision-making concerning the former president.
The Claim
A series of TikToks posted between February 27 and March 2, 2024, alleged that Clarence Thomas had "stormed out" of a Supreme Court meeting and had quit the Supreme Court.
One post by user NQT Political, posted on March 1, 2024, included the headline "Shocking News: Clarence Thomas Removed From Court Due to 8 Judges Disqualifying Trump!"
The video's narrator said "Clarence Thomas, one of the Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court recently stormed out of a conference. Well, turns out it's because they have reached a conclusion: Trump needs to be permanently banned." The video claims, falsely, to reference a Newsweek article from February 28, 2024.
Another post by user Hbb la, posted on March 2, 2024, repeated the same content with the headline "BREAKING NEWS Clarence Thomas Removed From Court Due to 8 Judges Disqualifying Trump"
User @elizalarson19904 also posted a video on February 27, 2024, with the headline "Clarence Thomas Abruptly Quits the Supreme Court."
The Facts
There is no evidence that Clarence Thomas has "stormed out" or protested recent Supreme Court rulings or decision-making.
The posts that make these allegations appear to be click-bait content. The videos mostly reference the false allegation in passing or claim that Thomas had left the Supreme Court with no reference to any sources or evidence.
The references to Trump being "permanently banned" do not clearly explain what he has been banned from, although it appears to be related to the Court's ruling regarding the Colorado primary ballot.
Some of the posts appear to refer to an article published by Newsweek. Newsweek has not reported on Thomas storming out of Supreme Court conferences, retiring from the Supreme Court, or the Court's issuance of banning orders against Trump.
The posts are based on videos posted on two YouTube channels: @TRUTHARENA807 and @AGOFFICIAL3.0. Neither channel has substantiated any of their claims. Most of their content appears to be AI-generated, with disjointed voiceovers and clunky narration.
Thomas still faces calls to recuse himself from Donald Trump's Supreme Court immunity case. Thomas, who joined the court in 1991 and is its most senior member, and his wife, Ginni, have been scrutinized for questionable relationships with influential Republicans in addition to Ginni allegedly helping Trump try to win in 2020.
The relationships include ties to billionaire Republican donor Harlan Crow and conservative judicial activist Leonard Leo, the co-chairman and former executive vice president of the conservative Federalist Society.
A recent petition by a large online religious community demanded Thomas recuse himself from the Trump immunity case over his ties to Leo and over Ginni Thomas allegedly playing "a central role" in trying to overturn the 2020 election result.
In 2022, Ginni Thomas was questioned by a committee investigating the January 6 riot following reports that she had texted the then White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, urging him to continue challenging the 2020 election results.
"I regret all of these texts," she said.
The Ruling
False.
There is no evidence for any of these claims. The posts were based on YouTube videos that did not substantiate or reference sources related to any of these allegations. The content on these channels appears to be, at least partly, AI-generated.
FACT CHECK BY Newsweek's Fact Check team
About the writer
Tom Norton is Newsweek's Fact Check reporter, based in London. His focus is reporting on misinformation and misleading information in ... Read more