Republicans running for president on Thursday applauded the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down race-based affirmative action in college admissions, a policy that has fueled the conservative agenda for decades.
Former President Donald J. Trump called the decision a “great day for America” in a statement.
“People with extraordinary ability and everything else necessary for success, including the future greatness of our country, are finally being rewarded,” he said, adding: “We’re going back to everything based on merit, and so it should be! “
The political organization of Mr. Trump, the MAGA War Room, made him the main catalyst behind the court’s decision to end affirmative action, saying on Twitter that he “kept his promise to appoint constitutional judges.”
He also drew an odd comparison between Mr. Trump, the Republican front-runner who has been impeached twice since leaving the White House, and Abraham Lincoln, one of the party’s iconic forefathers.
“President Trump will end affirmative action like Lincoln ended slavery,” the group wrote Twitter.
Mr. Trump appointed three of the six justices who voted to reject affirmative action in colleges, the same conservative supermajority that delivered another landslide victory for conservatives a year ago when it overturned Roe v. Wade, eliminating the constitutional right to abortion.
Mike Pence, Trump’s former vice president who is now a 2024 challenger, suggested in a statement Thursday that he deserved a measure of credit for the court’s rightward shift, saying the “huge” policy had “only served to perpetuate racism”. .”
“I am honored to have played a role in appointing three of the judges who secured today’s welcome decision, and as president I will continue to appoint judges who will strictly apply the law rather than twisting it to serve nefarious ends and progressives,” he said. .
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Trump’s main Republican rival, also welcomed the court’s decision.
“College admissions should be based on merit and applicants should not be judged by their race or ethnicity,” he wrote in Twitter. “The Supreme Court has correctly upheld the Constitution and ended discrimination by colleges and universities.”
Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, who is black, said in a statement that race should not determine who gets certain opportunities.
“We will not be judged just by the color of our skin,” he said. “That’s what the ruling says today. But that’s the story of America. That’s a story of American progress, and we can all celebrate that today.”
Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina and a former ambassador to the United Nations under Trump, said in a statement that the court’s ruling had reaffirmed how Americans value freedom and opportunity.
“Choosing winners and losers based on race is fundamentally wrong,” said Ms. Haley. “This decision will help all students, regardless of their background, have a better chance at achieving the American Dream.”
Vivek Ramaswamy, a billionaire businessman who graduated from Harvard University, who was a defendant in the Supreme Court case, pledged to do more to end affirmative action. In a statement, he said he would repeal a decades-old presidential executive order requiring federal contractors to adopt hiring preferences based on race.
“I am pleased that the Supreme Court of the United States finally ended one of the worst failed experiments in American history: affirmative action,” he said. “Still, the ruling is likely to usher in a new era of racial balance and ‘shadow’ quotas, where elite universities like Harvard and savvy employers play games to accommodate to their desires for preferences that benefit perceived “marginalized” groups.
