Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Justice Thomas' wife promotes Trump and shares Biden conspiracy theories

US President appointed Virgina Thomas to trust fund board of Library of Congress in May 2020

James Crump
Wednesday 28 October 2020 15:55 GMT
Comments
Amy Coney Barrett sworn in as Supreme Court justice

The wife of Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas has amplified unsubstantiated claims of corruption by Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on her Facebook page.

On Monday, the justice’s wife Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, 63, who is a longtime conservative activist, asked the more than 10,000 followers of her Facebook page to share a link to a story that included unsubstantiated claims about the Democratic nominee’s son, Hunter Biden, according to the Associated Press.

After the New York Post reported unverified allegations about Mr Biden's son and his foreign business ties earlier this month, the Trump campaign and high-profile Republicans claimed without evidence that the pair were involved in corruption in Ukraine.

Questions were raised about the veracity of the story when it emerged that Rudy Giuliani, Mr Trump’s personal lawyer, and Steve Bannon, the president’s former adviser, were involved in giving it to the paper. The claims involved have not yet been verified.

Ms Thomas regularly shares conspiracy theories on her Facebook page. Three times in October she posted unsubstantiated claims about former President Barack Obama spying on the Trump campaign.

She also claimed without evidence that the Biden campaign and the media are working together to shield the Democratic nominee from tough questions, according to the AP.

She wrote without citing any evidence: “Media + Biden/Harris team = PROPAGANDA and Corruption. #WalkAwayFromDemocrats and the Mainstream Media! Find new news sources!”

Ms Thomas is the only spouse of the nine justices that has a job that involves partisan politics, which sometimes appears to be in conflict with her husband’s role on the Supreme Court.

Justice Thomas is the longest-serving justice currently on the Supreme Court, and was appointed by George H W Bush in 1991.

The 63-year-old has been public in her support of President Donald Trump and regularly posts pictures to her Facebook page of his supporters campaigning in Virginia.

She has also posted more than a dozen pictures of her husband with Mr Trump and vice president Mike Pence, while she uploaded a photo to Facebook in February that showed her seated next to the president at a White House meeting.

Ms Thomas was a delegate to the Republican convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, in August, and was appointed by President Trump as a member of the trust fund board of the Library of Congress in May 2020.

However, justice Thomas has never considered his wife’s conservative activism as a conflict, and has not stepped aside from any Supreme Court disputes involving President Trump, according to the AP.

Justice Thomas swore in Amy Coney Barrett as an associate justice on the Supreme Court on Monday evening following her confirmation by the Senate.

Ms Thomas was pictured not wearing a face mask while sitting next to Ms Barrett’s husband, Jesse Barrett.

On a post on Facebook on Tuesday, Ms Thomas said she was “so excited” to have been at the swearing in.

She added: “Clarence said as we left, I wish your Mom was still alive, which drew my tears, as she would be living each minute and emotion of this historic day...a day President Trump made possible!”

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in