A 'great day for America': Trump, Republicans hail affirmative action
ruling
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[June 30, 2023]
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Donald Trump and other top U.S.
Republican leaders hailed the Supreme Court's rejection on Thursday of
race-conscious student admissions programs at two universities, with the
former president saying the ruling marked "a great day for America."
The court decision, strongly criticized by Democrats including President
Joe Biden, effectively prohibits affirmative action policies long used
to raise the number of Black, Hispanic and other underrepresented
minority students on U.S. campuses.
Trump, who is part of a crowded race for the Republican nomination in
the 2024 presidential election, said the ruling will bring the country
"back to all merit-based" admissions.
"This is a great day for America. People with extraordinary ability and
everything else necessary for success, including future greatness for
our country, are finally being rewarded," the former president said in a
statement.
Other Republican presidential contenders, including Trump's top election
rival Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, said the ruling would end what he
described as race-based "discrimination" in university applications.
"College admissions should be based on merit and applicants should not
be judged on their race or ethnicity," DeSantis wrote on Twitter.
Trump's former Vice President Mike Pence, who is also seeking the 2024
Republican nomination, on Twitter said he was "honored to have played a
role in appointing three of the justices who ensured today's welcomed
decision."
The court ruled that admissions policies at the University of North
Carolina and Harvard University violate the U.S. Constitution's promise
of equal protection under the law. Both institutions said they would
comply with the law.
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Former U.S. President and Republican
presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at the New Hampshire
Federation of Republican Women Lilac Luncheon in Concord, New
Hampshire, U.S., June 27, 2023. REUTERS/Reba Saldanha/File Photo
Presidential contender Tim Scott, the only Black Republican in the
U.S. Senate, said Harvard should also eliminate so-called "legacy"
programs that consider family history at the institution as an
admissions factor.
"Let's make sure that all admissions are based on academic scores,
and not just eliminating affirmative action," the senator from South
Carolina told Fox News.
In the U.S. Congress, top Republican lawmakers including House of
Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Senate Minority Leader
Mitch McConnell said the decision would ensure fair competition in
admissions.
"Today's rulings make clear that colleges may not continue
discriminating against bright and ambitious students based on the
color of their skin," McConnell said in a statement.
Many institutions of higher education long have backed affirmative
action on campuses not simply to remedy racial inequity and
exclusion in American life but to ensure a talent pool that can
bring a range of perspectives to the workplace. Democrats broadly
support this argument.
In a May Reuters/Ipsos poll, 49% of respondents agreed that "due to
racial discrimination, programs such as affirmative action are
necessary to help create equality," while 32% disagreed and 19% were
unsure.
(Reporting by Doina Chiacu and Rami Ayyub; Editing by Tim Ahmann,
Chizu Nomiyama, Conor Humphries and Mark Porter)
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