(Headline USA) Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., erroneously claimed on Thursday that the Supreme Court was composed of all white men “until 1981,” neglecting Justice Thurgood Marshall, the first black justice who was appointed to the bench decades earlier.
“Until 1981, this powerful body, the Supreme Court, was all white men. Imagine,” Schumer said on the Senate floor in reference to President Joe Biden’s pledge to only consider a black female nominee to replace Justice Stephen Breyer, who is resigning this year.
“America wasn’t all white men in 1981, or ever,” he continued. “Under President Biden and this Senate majority, we’re taking historic steps to make the courts look more like the country they serve.”
.@SenSchumer: “Until 1981, this powerful body, the Supreme Court, was all White men. Imagine. America wasn’t all White men in 1981, or ever. Under President Biden and this Senate majority, we’re taking historic steps to make the courts look more like the country they serve.” pic.twitter.com/PrEjoLrmPH
— The Hill (@thehill) February 3, 2022
Marshall, who was nominated by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1967, served on the court as an associate justice until he retired in 1991. He was then replaced by Justice Clarence Thomas, who was nominated by President George H.W. Bush.
Schumer, 71, was a student at Harvard College and then Harvard Law School during Marshall’s early years on the court.
The Democrat admitted his mistake later, claiming he “misspoke.”
Sorry that I misspoke earlier today. Of course, I remember the dedication and legal excellence that Thurgood Marshall brought to the Supreme Court.
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) February 3, 2022
A spokesman for Schumer added that he meant to say the court “was almost all white men.”
