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The View in Review

Ana Navarro Demands Clarence Thomas Recuse Himself After Wife's Jan. 6 Texts Surface

"It is simply not acceptable to put up with the decline of the third branch of government."
  • Ana Navarro called on Clarence Thomas to either recuse himself from January 6 cases or resign in a fiery monologue. (Photos: ABC)
    Ana Navarro called on Clarence Thomas to either recuse himself from January 6 cases or resign in a fiery monologue. (Photos: ABC)

    Ana Navarro came out swinging Friday morning when she demanded Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas recuse himself from all cases related to the January 6 insurrection after newly-released texts revealed his wife, Ginni Thomas, repeatedly urged Trump's chief of staff Mark Meadows to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

    While all four co-hosts were clear that Thomas, who was the only justice to vote against allowing the release of January 6 records from the Trump White House, should have recused himself from the case, it was Navarro who spoke out the harshest against him — and her own party. "Frankly, this should not be a left or right issue. This should be a right or wrong issue," she said, to a round of applause from The View's audience. "There is a reason why the Supreme Court is at its lowest point in history when it comes to confidence by the American people."

    "And ironically enough, just two days ago, Ted Cruz asked nominee Ketanji [Brown Jackson] if she would recuse herself in the Harvard case, where she's got some conflicts, and she said she absolutely would," continued Navarro. "So I would ask Ted Cruz, I would ask Lindsey Graham, I would ask all those Republican members of the Judiciary [Committee] and all the mouthpieces on Fox: what would you all have done if Ketanji's husband had been texting Ron Klein, Joe Biden's chief of staff 29 times in two months, musing about an insurrection against the democracy of the United States? It's such hypocrisy. People should be really upset about this!"

    After Sunny Hostin noted that the content of the text messages indicates Ginni Thomas has been "radicalized," Navarro once again called for Thomas' recusal from relevant Supreme Court cases. "The question is: what did Clarence know, and when did he know it? And did he know it when he did not recuse himself?" said the guest co-host. "We just got breaking news that he just left the hospital. He had an infection, been in the hospital. Nobody is wishing Clarence Thomas harm; what we want is for him not to harm the Supreme Court. What we want is for him not to harm the integrity of one of the biggest, most important institutions of our country. What we want is for him to recuse himself and frankly, if he can't recuse himself, then he should think about resigning. This is just not acceptable."

    As for the Supreme Court at large, Navarro believes Chief Justice John Roberts "should bring in some legal scholars" to "collectively come up with some requirements and a process for recusal." Added Navarro, "The Court is more politicized, the people have less confidence in it. And it is simply not acceptable to put up with the decline of the third branch of government."

    Claire Spellberg Lustig is the Senior Editor at Primetimer and a scholar of The View. Follow her on Twitter at @c_spellberg.

    TOPICS: Ana Navarro, ABC, The View, Clarence Thomas, politics, U.S. Supreme Court