The former President Donald Trump celebrated an end to what he calls “racist college admissions” following news that the Supreme Court ruled affirmative action programs at Harvard and the University of North Carolina were unconstitutional.
Race-based admissions were struck down by the court in a 6-3 vote with the extreme liberal justices dissenting.
Chief Justice John Roberts, who has a detailed history of siding with the left to prevent Constitutionally sound arguments from taking hold in the court, actually wrote the majority opinion indicating that the use of race as a determining factor in college admissions is a violation of the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause.
Such systems, he contends, “lack sufficiently focused and measurable objectives warranting the use of race, unavoidably employ race in a negative manner, involve racial stereotyping, and lack meaningful endpoints.”
“Those admissions programs cannot be reconciled with the guarantees of the Equal Protection Clause,” he wrote.
By a vote of 6-3, the Supreme Court just ruled that university admissions programs that use affirmative action and other race-based admissions criteria are unconstitutional and violate the 14th Amendment. Roberts wrote the opinion. https://t.co/k5ZBSlUh12 pic.twitter.com/Yf5ReefNVY
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) June 29, 2023
Plaintiffs in the case had argued that affirmative action, meant to create diversity amongst student bodies in universities across the country, actually discriminate against many qualified students based on race.
In short – Affirmative action is a racist policy. And the Supreme Court agrees.
How insane did Harvard’s affirmative action policies get?
An African American student in the 40th percentile of their academic index is more likely to get it than an Asian student in the 100th percentile.
Black students in the 50th percentile are more likely to get in that… pic.twitter.com/9vvBuQXA24
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) June 29, 2023
RELATED: Democrats Bracing Themselves For More SCOTUS Decisions They Don’t Like
Trump Celebrates Affirmative Action Ruling
Within moments of the Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action in college admissions, the leading contender for the Republican nomination for President chimed in with a celebratory statement from his campaign team.
And of course, the campaign hyped his role in appointing three of the justices – Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett – who rejected the race-based policy.
“President Donald Trump made today’s historic decision to end the racist college admissions process possible because he delivered on his promise to appoint constitutionalist justices,” the statement reads. “America is a better nation as a result of the historic rulings led by Donald Trump’s three Supreme Court nominees.”
President Donald Trump made today’s historic decision to end the racist college admissions process possible because he delivered on his promise to appoint constitutionalist justices.
America is a better nation as a result of the historic rulings led by Donald Trump’s three…
— Karoline Leavitt (@kleavittnh) June 29, 2023
Other GOP candidates also voiced that they were happy with the ruling.
Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy called affirmative action “a badly failed experiment” and demanded colleges start “putting a nail in the coffin.”
Affirmative action is a badly failed experiment: time to put a nail in the coffin & restore colorblind meritocracy.
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) June 29, 2023
Former Vice President Mike Pence also indicated he was delighted with the ruling, though he attempted to steal some of Trump’s thunder in taking some credit for appointing those same three justices to the court.
“I am pleased that the Supreme Court has put an end to this egregious violation of civil and constitutional rights in admissions processes, which only served to perpetuate racism,” he tweeted, along with pictures of him alongside Barrett and Gorsuch.
“I am honored to have played a role in appointing three of the Justices that ensured today’s welcomed decision,” added Pence.
There is no place for discrimination based on race in the United States, and I am pleased that the Supreme Court has put an end to this egregious violation of civil and constitutional rights in admissions processes, which only served to perpetuate racism. I am honored to have… pic.twitter.com/h9Ws5lhiQ7
— Mike Pence (@Mike_Pence) June 29, 2023
Trump issued a follow-up statement of his own calling the affirmative action ruling “a great day for America.”
“People with extraordinary ability and everything else necessary for success, including future greatness for our country, are finally being rewarded,” he said. “This is the ruling everyone was waiting and hoping for and the result was amazing.”
“It will also keep us competitive with the rest of the world,” Trump continued. “Our greatest minds must be cherished and that’s what this wonderful day has brought. We’re going back to all merit-based—and that’s the way it should be!”
Obama just released a statement on today’s SCOTUS decision in which he said affirmative action “allowed generations of students like Michelle and me to prove we belonged.”
Did he just say that he and his wife were not qualified to get into college and only did because of their… pic.twitter.com/IEUVqjKztk
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) June 29, 2023
RELATED: SCOTUS Case Could Spell Doom for Affirmative Action in College Admissions
Michelle Obama’s Heart Breaks
On the flip side were statements issued by Michelle and Barack Obama.
President Obama said affirmative action “wasn’t perfect” but “it allowed generations of students like Michelle and me to prove we belonged.”
Grades can prove that now. Merit can prove that now. Ability can prove that now. Not skin color.
Obama added links to various organizations for those who were dismayed by the affirmative action ruling and feel the need to “help right now.”
The former First Lady’s statement was much more personal as she recalled feeling as if her merits were being questioned in college due to affirmative action.
I wanted to share some of my thoughts on today’s Supreme Court decision on affirmative action: pic.twitter.com/Wa6TGafzHV
— Michelle Obama (@MichelleObama) June 29, 2023
“The fact is this: I belonged,” Mrs. Obama insisted. “And semester after semester, decade after decade, for more than half a century, countless students like me showed they belonged, too. It wasn’t just the kids of color who benefitted, either.”
Conservative author and documentary filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza once claimed that Michelle’s college thesis at Princeton University was “illiterate and incoherent.”
Anyone who has read Michelle’s college thesis—a document so illiterate and incoherent that it was written, as Christopher Hitchens put it, in “no known language”—will chuckle heartily at this one https://t.co/6VSdDsSuMu
— Dinesh D’Souza (@DineshDSouza) December 16, 2018
Michelle lamented that she is heartbroken over the Supreme Court ruling.
“So today, my heart breaks for any young person out there who’s wondering what their future holds — and what kinds of chances will be open to them,” she said.
“Today is a reminder that we’ve got to do the work not just to enact policies that reflect our values of equity and fairness, but to truly make those values real in all of our schools, workplaces, and neighborhoods,” she noted.
President Obama, the first black president of The Harvard Law Review, had argued in 1990 that he “undoubtedly benefited from affirmative action” in his own academic career and said, “the success of the program speaks for itself.”
The New York Times had reported, however, that he did not want to see his own daughters benefit from the policy because they “had a pretty good deal in life” and “should not benefit from affirmative action … particularly if they were competing for admission with poor white students.”
Regardless of what the Obamas say, this is a truly momentous day in American history.
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