Multiple 2024 Republican presidential candidates are praising the Supreme Court's ruling on Thursday that ended affirmative action in college admissions, including at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina. The ruling struck down the landmark 1978 case Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, which allowed race-conscious college admissions, and is a victory for conservative activists who have campaigned against the use of race in college admission decisions.
Republicans seeking the White House were quick to celebrate the ruling, some within an hour. Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley called race-conscious admissions "fundamentally wrong" in a statement on Thursday.
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“The world admires America because we value freedom and opportunity. The Supreme Court reaffirmed those values today," she said. "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.”
Similarly, former Vice President Mike Pence said he was "pleased" with the decision and touted his work with former President Donald Trump to move the high court toward a conservative majority.
"There is no place for discrimination based on race in the United States, and I am pleased that the Supreme Court has put an end to this egregious violation of civil and constitutional rights in admissions processes, which only served to perpetuate racism," Pence said in a statement. "I am honored to have played a role in appointing three of the Justices that ensured today’s welcomed decision, and as President I will continue to appoint judges who will strictly apply the law rather than twisting it to serve woke and progressive ends.”
During his administration, Trump appointed three justices, Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch, and Amy Coney Barrett, to the high court, which helped enable this ruling and the overturning of Roe v. Wade last year, a fact that both Trump and Pence, former running mates and now rivals, are lauding on the campaign trail.
Long-shot presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy gloated about the ruling in a tweet: "Affirmative action is a badly failed experiment: time to put a nail in the coffin & restore colorblind meritocracy."
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In a statement, Ramaswamy also said he would move to expand the ruling to the federal government. "If elected President, I have committed to repealing Lyndon Johnson’s ill-thought Executive Order 11246, which mandates that federal contractors — approximately 20% of the U.S. workforce — adopt race-based hiring preferences," he said.
Other top GOP presidential candidates, including Trump, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), and Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), have yet to weigh in on the ruling but will likely praise it in the coming days.