'Rogue justice' Clarence Thomas needs to step aside: Carl Bernstein

Appearing on CNN's "New Day" with hosts Brianna Keilar and John Avlon, famed Watergate reporter Carl Bernstein launched into a diatribe about the ethics of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

The former Washington Post journalist's comments were prompted by host Keilar when she asked him what he thought of Thomas' complaint about the nation's highest court being "bullied" after the leak of a draft opinion by fellow Justice Samuel Alito that would effectively overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v Wade ruling that paved the way for women to obtain abortions without undue government interference.

According to Bernstein, Thomas, appointed to the court by President George H.W. Bush in 1991, should be considered a "rogue justice."

"I think that Clarence Thomas talking about faith in institutions is a little misguided, given particularly the role of his wife in the Stop the Steal movement around the president of the United States," Bernstein bluntly stated. "The wife of a Supreme Court justice doing what Ginni Thomas did is utterly unheard of in the history of the United States. So Justice Thomas talking about the legitimacy of institutions, either the White House or the court itself and he should recuse himself, which he refuses to do from any case involving the president of the United States and the election."

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"There is a real failure of institutions, especially on the Supreme Court by a rogue justice who would not say 'I'm going to step aside,'" he continued. "And also, let's look at what Ginni Thomas did. Let's look at what she was saying and we have texts of what she was saying. It is crazy stuff. It is out there, but it is also encouraging the president of the United States, really, to stage a coup."

"So it's disingenuous to hear from the justice to say this kind of thing," he added, getting back to Clarence Thomas.

Watch below:

Watergate Expert Carl Bernstein thinks 'Rogue justice' Clarence Thomas needs to step asidewww.youtube.com