Clarence Thomas: 'Stay Black and die' retort to racial expectations
Supreme Court justice discusses pressure on Black Americans to hold certain political views
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made
Clarence Thomas: 'Stay Black and die' retort to racial expectations
Photograph: New York Post (embedded from source)
What this story says
- Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas stated he used the phrase 'stay Black and die' as a retort to those imposing racial expectations on Black Americans.
- Thomas made these remarks during an interview with Republican Sen. Ted Cruz on the 'Verdict with Ted Cruz' podcast.
- He compared the idea of dictating political views based on race to the restrictions of racial segregation.
- The New York Ledger report details Thomas's upbringing in segregated Georgia and his early political leanings.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 7 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. Coverage measured .
Trust
60/100
Craft
65/100
Hype
45/100
7 sources · methodology
Thin on the left so far
None of the 7 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated left.
This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has stated that he used the phrase 'stay Black and die' as a retort to individuals who impose requirements on Black Americans based on their race. Thomas made these remarks during an interview with Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz on the 'Verdict with Ted Cruz' podcast. He explained that this saying was a response to those who felt there were specific ways Black people were supposed to think due to their skin colour. Thomas compared the imposition of political views based on race to the restrictions of racial segregation.
Disagreement on interview context
The New York Post reported that the interview with Senator Ted Cruz was related to Cruz's book release. The New York Ledger stated that the interview was related to Thomas's upbringing and early political leanings.
What the coverage left out
None of the right-rated reports below mention the details of Justice Thomas's upbringing in segregated Georgia or his early political leanings, which were included in the centre-rated report.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 4 times, most recently on 25 Aug 2026, 02:00, and will add the sides that appear.
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
0 rated outlets
No outlet rated left has run this story so far. We are still checking, and will say plainly if that does not change.
Centre
1 rated outlet
- The New York Ledger report led with Justice Thomas rejecting the idea that Black Americans should hold particular political views because of their race. It quoted Thomas saying, 'We had this saying [that there are] only two things I have to do: stay Black and die.' The report detailed Thomas's upbringing in segregated Georgia and his early political leanings, including his initial embrace of Black nationalism and admiration for Malcolm X before moving right after a 1970 protest. The Ledger also included Thomas's comparison of racial mandates to segregated libraries and specific book restrictions.
Right
6 rated outlets
- Reports from the New York Post, The Gateway Pundit, Fox News, and ussanews.com highlighted Justice Thomas's pushback against the notion that Black people cannot be conservative. The New York Post mentioned Thomas is 78 years old and that the interview was connected to Ted Cruz's book release. The Gateway Pundit and Fox News used the headline 'Clarence Thomas scorches racial litmus tests policing thought: ‘Stay Black and die’'. The Gateway Pundit's digest stated Thomas 'slammed the idea that black people cannot be conservative.' Fox News reported Thomas rejected the idea that Black people must think a certain way, likening such mandates to racial segregation. Ussanews.com's digest also noted Thomas's criticism of pressure on Black Americans to hold liberal views and his comparison to segregation.
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover Clarence Thomas: 'Stay Black and die' retort to racial expectations?
- Of the 7 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 0% are rated left, 14% are rated centre, 86% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is Clarence Thomas: 'Stay Black and die' retort to racial expectations left or right?
- Too few of the outlets on this story carry a published leaning rating to say. 7 of them do, and this site does not characterise a field under 12: at that size one newsroom filing moves the share by ten points. The percentages above are the count as it stands.
- Is the coverage of Clarence Thomas: 'Stay Black and die' retort to racial expectations biased?
- Clarence Thomas: 'Stay Black and die' retort to racial expectations is one event reported by 7 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which side is not reporting Clarence Thomas: 'Stay Black and die' retort to racial expectations?
- When we first saw this story, outlets rated left had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
- Which outlets covered Clarence Thomas: 'Stay Black and die' retort to racial expectations?
- 7 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- What did Clarence Thomas say about racial expectations?
- Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas stated he used the phrase 'stay Black and die' as a retort to those who impose requirements on Black Americans based on their race. He made these remarks during an interview with Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz on the 'Verdict with Ted Cruz' podcast.
- How did Thomas compare racial expectations to segregation?
- Justice Thomas compared the idea of dictating political views based on race to the restrictions of racial segregation. He used the example of segregated libraries and restrictions on accessing certain books to illustrate his point about limitations imposed due to race.
- What is the context of the interview where Thomas made these remarks?
- The New York Post reported the interview with Senator Ted Cruz was related to Cruz's book release. The New York Ledger, however, detailed Thomas's upbringing in segregated Georgia and his early political leanings as part of the context for his remarks.
Read it at the source
7 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
Centre
1Right
6- In Rare Interview, Clarence Thomas Hits Back at Leftists Who Believe Black People Can’t Be Conservative * The Gateway Pundit * by Cristina Laila (opens The Gateway Pundit in a new tab)
The Gateway Pundit — is The Gateway Pundit biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Clarence Thomas Rejects Idea Black Americans Must Be Liberal: ‘Indentured Servitude’ - Real News Now (opens realnewsnow.com in a new tab)
realnewsnow.com — is realnewsnow.com biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Clarence Thomas scorches racial litmus tests policing thought: ‘Stay Black and die’ (opens Fox News in a new tab)
- Clarence Thomas criticizes pressure on black Americans to hold liberal views, compares it to segregation (opens ussanews.com in a new tab)
ussanews.com — is ussanews.com biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Clarence Thomas tears into lefty notion black people can’t be conservative: ‘Indentured servitude’ (opens New York Post in a new tab)
New York Post — is New York Post biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Justice Thomas: Felt Scrutinized as Black Conservative (opens Newsmax in a new tab)
Not rated
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
How did this read?
About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.
