WASHINGTON ― Republican presidential candidates ― including the six candidates of color ― applauded Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling that declared affirmative action unconstitutional, dismantling policies meant to increase Black and Latino attainment in higher education.
Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, the lone Black Republican in the Senate, praised the decision and called it “a good day for America.”
“This is a day where we understand that being judged by the content of our character, not by the color of our skin, is what our Constitution wants,” Scott said during an interview on Fox News. “We are continuing to form a more perfect union. The progress in our nation is palpable.”
Scott added that universities like Harvard should go a step further and eliminate legacy admissions that give preference to children of alumni, who are often affluent. The Supreme Court ruling was based on challenges to affirmative action programs at Harvard College and the University of North Carolina.
“Let’s make sure all admissions are based on academic scores and not just eliminating affirmative action. Let’s look at the fact that professors’ kids get to go there as well,” Scott said.
Scott has repeatedly argued that America is “not a racist country,” pointing to his own experience growing up with a single mother and eventually reaching the halls of Congress. His message has drawn criticism from some Democrats, including, most recently, President Barack Obama, who said that kind of talk tends to gloss over the effects of racism.
In his opinion on Thursday, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts wrote on behalf of the conservative majority that students must be evaluated based on their experiences “as an individual — not on the basis of race.” Colleges and universities will no longer be allowed to seek greater diversity in their student bodies by preferencing race. The court exempted military academies from its decision, however, due to the “potentially distinct interests” they present.
Democrats and civil rights groups warned the decision will adversely impact students of color in future admissions cycles, as studies have shown. But Republicans cheered and said it was long overdue.
“Picking winners and losers based on race is fundamentally wrong. This decision will help every student—no matter their background—have a better opportunity to achieve the American Dream,” former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who is Indian American and the first prominent woman of color to seek the GOP presidential nomination, said in a statement.
Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, another GOP presidential candidate of South Asian descent, called affirmative action “the single greatest form of institutional racism in America today. He vowed to take action as president to block universities from engaging in any “games” he said would be designed to “achieve the same results using shadow tactics like deprioritizing test scores.”
Conservative commentator and former California gubernatorial candidate Larry Elder similarly hailed the Supreme Court’s rejection of affirmative action.
“Discrimination to fix historical discrimination is still discrimination. Affirmative action is divisive, undermines merit and does more harm than good,” Elder, another Black 2024 contender, said in a statement.
The frontrunner in the race, former President Donald Trump, also welcomed news of the decision. “This is the ruling everyone was waiting and hoping for and the result was amazing,” Trump said in a statement. “We’re going back to all merit-based—and that’s the way it should be!”
But the campaign of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.), Trump’s leading rival in the race for the GOP presidential nomination, responded in part by highlighting an interview Trump did in 2015 in which he said he was “fine with affirmative action.”
“We’ve lived with it for a long time and I’ve lived with it for a long time and I’ve had great relationships with lots of people so I’m fine with it,” Trump told NBC’s Chuck Todd at the time.