Lee and Romney voice support for Supreme Court decision on affirmative action

SALT LAKE CITY — The two Republican U.S. senators representing Utah voiced their support for a Supreme Court decision released Thursday that strikes down affirmative action in college admissions.

The court said race-based admissions policies are unconstitutional in two separate cases — Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, and Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina.

Sen. Mitt Romney reacted on Twitter to President Joe Biden's comment at the end of a press conference about the decision, when he said, "This is not a normal court."

Biden made the statement in response to a question about whether the court is a "rogue court." The reporter asking Biden the question cited comments from the Congressional Black Caucus, which released a statement saying the court has "thrown into question its own legitimacy."

"Biden claims the court is not 'normal,'" said Romney. "But normal is following the Constitution, which does not allow discrimination on the basis of race. Preference for one is prejudice for another."

In his remarks Thursday, Biden said he "strongly" disagreed with the court's decisions and said affirmative action is "misunderstood." He called on colleges to "take into account the adversity a student has overcome when selecting among qualified applicants."

Biden quoted from the decision, when it said, "nothing in this opinion should be construed as prohibiting universities from considering an applicant's discussion of how race has affected his or her life."

Sen. Mike Lee applauds affirmative action decision

Lee released a statement Thursday in support of the decision, saying the Supreme Court "took a significant stride toward a future where college applicants are judged by the content of their character and the strength of their achievements as opposed to the color of their skin."

Lee said he signed on to an amicus brief in support of the petitioner, Students for Fair Admissions, "because our institutions of higher education should focus on educating students rather than engaging in social engineering."

He said affirmative action programs have "perpetuated inequality rather than rectifying it."

Recently, Lee has spoken out in defense of the court and several of the justices, including Justice Samuel Alito, whom he clerked for.

Lee retweeted a tweet from fellow Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, of Texas, who called out ProPublica, a left-leaning media organization, of taking money from wealthy, progressive donors as they have written pieces accusing conservative justices of ethical lapses.

Progressive groups are also targeting the court through a recently launched campaign called "United for Democracy," which criticizes the court in ads, social media and through other channels of communication.

On the website, the groups call on Congress to "act to rein in the extreme Supreme Court and put power back in the hands of citizens, not a few unaccountable elites. The extremist justices and those who prop them up don't want us to have a voice – but our institutions answer to the people. It's time to reclaim that power."

The campaign is funded by labor unions, environmental groups and pro-abortion organizations.

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