Rumors Swirl After Justice Clarence Thomas, 75, Mysteriously Absent From Supreme Court: 'An Illness, Perhaps?'
April 15 2024, Published 6:00 p.m. ET
Rumors swirled online this week after Justice Clarence Thomas was mysteriously absent from the Supreme Court while oral arguments were underway, RadarOnline.com can report.
Justice Thomas, 75, was mysteriously absent from the Supreme Court’s oral arguments on Monday. The court gave no reason for his sudden absence.
While Chief Justice John Roberts acknowledged Justice Thomas’s absence and confirmed that Thomas was “not on the bench today,” he failed to provide a reason why.
Chief Justice Roberts also confirmed that Thomas would "participate fully" in the two cases being argued on Monday via briefs and transcripts from the day’s proceedings.
A court spokesperson also reportedly failed to provide a reason why Thomas was not on the bench on Monday, according to NBC News.
Thomas’s absence created significant speculation online – particularly because the Supreme Court justice is the oldest of the court’s nine sitting members.
“An illness, perhaps?” one excited X user wrote underneath an article that confirmed Thomas’s mysterious absence on Monday.
“Go into the light, Clarence,” another user quipped. “There is peace and serenity in the light.”
“Good I hope he has to leave the Court,” a third person responded.
Meanwhile, others criticized Thomas for his mysterious absence from the Supreme Court on Monday.
“If you work at Taco Bell and don't show up for your shift, and offer no explanation for your absence, you get fired,” one person tweeted after Thomas failed to appear for the day’s oral arguments.
“I would love to have a job where I don’t show up to work, still get paid and still have a job,” a second person tweeted.
Others ridiculed Thomas and alluded to the Supreme Court justice’s recent scandal involving luxurious vacations and expensive perks paid for by his wealthy billionaire friends.
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“He's on a fishing trip with Harlan Crow and Leonard Leo,” one person wrote.
“All expenses paid Vacation?” quipped another.
“Vaca time is coming up soon enough,” yet one more X user tweeted. “He must be frightfully busy researching exotic locations, reserving yachts and cabins, booking reservations and care and feeding of the billionaires that make it all possible. I'm surprised he has any time left for work at all to be fair.”
As RadarOnline.com previously reported, Justice Thomas’s sudden and mysterious absence from the Supreme Court on Monday came after it was revealed that he took 38 destination vacations since he was appointed to the lifetime position back in 1991.
Many of the trips were allegedly paid for by Thomas’s rich friends – including billionaires Harlan Crow and Leonard Leo.
Justice Thomas faced additional backlash in August 2023 after he filed an annual financial disclosure report that exposed even more previously undisclosed perks from his rich friends.
Serious ethical concerns have arisen following the controversy around Justice Thomas, and additional investigations have uncovered similar issues among the Supreme Court’s other conservative justices.