Clarence and Ginni Thomas: Politics, Power and the Supreme Court

In thirty years on the Supreme Court, Clarence Thomas has gone from the lonely fringes of dissent to the heart of the conservative supermajority responsible for overturning Roe v. Wade, gutting the Voting Rights Act, and outlawing affirmative action in higher education. In this fascinating two-hour report, veteran Frontline producer Michael Kirk and his team examine how this deeply complicated man was shaped by his rise from poverty in rural Georgia and his marriage to the former Virginia “Ginni” Lamp, the product of a privileged white Nebraska family filled with grievance about a changing America. Frontline secured interviews with childhood friends and classmates of both Thomases, former romantic partners, and associates who watched the two accumulate allies and enemies as they rose through Republican circles in Washington. At the last minute, the producers also rushed to incorporate breaking news that Thomas had received undisclosed gifts from a millionaire supporter, and that Ginni had encouraged Trump aides to contest the 2020 election results. For painting a revelatory psychological and social portrait of an American power couple at the center of today’s fights over democracy and individual rights, Clarence and Ginni Thomas: Politics, Power and the Supreme Court wins a Peabody Award.