2026年4月16日 美国东部时间上午10:04 / 福克斯新闻频道
托马斯的讲话呼吁年轻人鼓起勇气，坚守自身信念
作者：布雷安娜·德皮什 福克斯新闻
在德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校发表纪念《独立宣言》签署250周年的讲话时，托马斯呼吁年轻人鼓起勇气，抵制美国国内日益抬头的“犬儒主义”与敌对情绪。（图片来源：C-SPAN）
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美国最高法院大法官克拉伦斯·托马斯在周三一场罕见的公开演讲中，对现代进步主义展开了尖锐批判，称这一当代政治哲学正对美国的建国原则构成威胁。
作为最高法院任职时间最长的大法官，托马斯在德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校座无虚席的学生与教职员工礼堂发表讲话，纪念《独立宣言》签署250周年。他呼吁全美重新审视美国治理的哲学基础。
他周三表示，美国建国者所秉持的价值观在近几十年里“失宠”，并敦促年轻一代坚守自身的原则。
“我认为，如果我们不挺身而出、掌控自己的国家，为国家承担责任，我们就会逐渐任由他人摆布我们的思想和认知，”他对听众说道。
最高法院对特朗普出生公民权行政令持怀疑态度，罗伯茨在标志性案件中质疑相关论点
美国最高法院大法官克拉伦斯·托马斯经常遭到ProPublica的批评。（摄影师：阿尔·德拉戈/彭博社 via 盖蒂图片社）
“进步主义试图取代《独立宣言》的基本前提，进而取代我们的政府形式，”托马斯在周三晚间的讲话中说道，他将当代政治运动与他所称的背离宪法原旨的行为直接联系了起来。
“进步主义认为，我们的权利和尊严并非来自上帝，而是来自政府，”托马斯说。“它要求人民表现出顺从与软弱，这与我们的宪法——基于我们权利的超然起源——的前提完全相悖。”
这位保守派大法官还哀叹，美国国内“犬儒主义、排斥、敌对和仇恨”情绪日益蔓延，而这种情绪是由美国人，特别是所谓的“实用主义者”或自称知识分子的群体所助长的。
最高法院暗示可能限制《投票权法案》关键条款
一名撑紫色雨伞的女性走过华盛顿特区的最高法院。（美联社照片/杰奎琳·马丁）
“他们将自己重塑为制度主义者、实用主义者或深思熟虑的温和派，以此为自己的失败辩解，无论是对自己、对良知还是对国家，”他说道。
托马斯的讲话是纪念《独立宣言》250周年的系列讲座的一部分。
尽管讲话基调严肃，但托马斯以激昂的行动号召结束了演讲，呼吁在场的法学院学生以及在家中收看电视直播的观众鼓起勇气，坚守自身的原则与理想。
“在我看来，我们必须在自己身上找到《独立宣言》签署者所拥有的那种勇气，这样我们才能为我们的未来做他们为他们的未来所做的事情，”他说道。
托马斯补充道，美国民主的存续与否，正取决于此。
最高法院对特朗普出生公民权行政令持怀疑态度，罗伯茨在标志性案件中质疑相关论点
美国最高法院大法官克拉伦斯·托马斯与首席大法官约翰·罗伯茨在最高法院拍摄正式肖像。（亚历克斯·王/盖蒂图片社）
“我认为，如果我们不挺身而出、掌控自己的国家，为国家承担责任，我们就会逐渐任由他人摆布我们的思想和认知，”他说道。
“如果你认为国家正在丧失信心，那就起身参与其中。不要袖手旁观。”
布雷安娜·德皮什是福克斯新闻数字频道的全国政治记者，负责报道特朗普政府，重点关注司法部、联邦调查局及其他全国性新闻。她此前曾在《华盛顿观察家报》和《华盛顿邮报》报道全国政治，作品还见于《政客杂志》、《科罗拉多公报》等媒体。您可以通过Breanne.Deppisch@fox.com向布雷安娜提供新闻线索，或在X平台关注她@breanne_dep。
Justice Thomas warns progressivism is a threat to America in rare public remarks
April 16, 2026 10:04am EDT / Fox News
Thomas’s remarks urged young people to have courage and stand up for their ideals
By Breanne Deppisch Fox News
Speaking at UT Austin to mark the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas urged young people to have courage and reject growing ‘cynicism’ and hostility in the US. (Credit: C-SPAN)
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Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas issued a blistering critique of modern-day progressivism in a rare public speech on Wednesday, describing the modern political philosophy as a threat to America’s founding principles.
Speaking to a packed auditorium of students and faculty at the University of Texas at Austin to mark the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas, the Supreme Court’s longest-serving justice, urged the nation to revisit the philosophical foundations of U.S. governance.
He said Wednesday that values embraced by the nation’s founders have “fallen out of favor” in recent decades and urged younger generations to stand up for their principles.
“I think if we don’t stand up and take ownership of our country, and take responsibility for it, we are slowly letting others control how we think and what we think,” he told the audience.
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Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is regularly criticized by ProPublica.(Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“Progressivism seeks to replace the basic premises of the Declaration of Independence, and hence our form of government,” Thomas said Wednesday evening, drawing a direct line between contemporary political movements and what he described as a departure from the Constitution’s original meaning.
“It holds that our rights and our dignities come not from God, but from the government,” Thomas said. “It requires of the people a subservience and weakness incompatible with a Constitution premised on the transcendent origin of our rights.”
The conservative justice also lamented what he said was the growing prevalence of “cynicism, rejection, hostility and animus” in the U.S., and perpetuated “by Americans,” and particularly, so-called “pragmatists” or self-described intellectuals.
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A woman under a purple umbrella walks past the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C.(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
“They recast themselves as institutionalists, pragmatists or thoughtful moderates, all as a way of justifying their failures to themselves, their consciences, and their country,” he said.
Thomas’s remarks were part of a broader lecture series marking the Declaration’s 250th anniversary.
And though the tone of his remarks was somber, Thomas closed them with a soaring call to action, urging law students in the audience, and viewers watching the televised address at home, to have courage and stand up for their principles and ideals.
“In my view, we must find in ourselves that same level of courage that the signers of the Declaration have so that we can do for our future what they did for theirs,” he said.
The durability of American democracy, Thomas added, depends on it.
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Justice Clarence Thomas and Chief Justice John Roberts pose for their official portrait at the Supreme Court.(Alex Wong/Getty Images)
“I think if we don’t stand up and take ownership of our country and take responsibility for it, we are slowly letting others control how we think and what we think,” he said.
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“If you think it’s losing confidence, then you get up and you participate. You don’t sit on the sidelines.”
Breanne Deppisch is a national politics reporter for Fox News Digital covering the Trump administration, with a focus on the Justice Department, FBI and other national news. She previously covered national politics at the Washington Examiner and The Washington Post, with additional bylines in Politico Magazine, the Colorado Gazette and others. You can send tips to Breanne at Breanne.Deppisch@fox.com, or follow her on X at @breanne_dep.