Actor and producer Rob Reiner on Tuesday equated allegations previously made against Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to those made against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein.
"Morning Joe" host Mika Brzezinski asked Reiner about Weinstein, and if the allegations of sexual assault and harassment against him were the norm when it comes to how the movie industry and Hollywood operates.
"Here’s the thing," Reiner said. "Harvey Weinstein's disgusting, let’s just say that. But Fox News had that, Clarence Thomas – I think what we’re doing now, is it’s lifted this thing and put it front and center in a big way."
Reiner appeared to be equating a situation in which Thomas was accused of "telling inappropriate jokes," to Weinstein's situation, which involves numerous women and a plethora of evidence, including audio tapes and allegations of sexual harassment, assault, and even rape against the Hollywood film mogul.
MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough shot back at the comment about Thomas.
"We actually asked you about Harvey Weinstein and a lot of women are saying he raped them," Scarborough said. "I don’t agree with you on Clarence Thomas. I think telling inappropriate jokes and raping women are two completely different things. There’s a false equivalency there."
Thomas, a conservative judge and the second African American man to become a Supreme Court Justice, was a controversial nomination by President George H. W. Bush due to his strong conservative ideology.
Thomas was accused of sexual harassment by University of Oklahoma law professor Anita Hill during his Senate confirmation hearings in 1991. Hill worked for Thomas for years and charged him with harassing her with the inappropriate discussion of sexual acts and pornographic films after she refused to date him.
The incident became one person’s word against another, ultimately amounted to nothing, and Thomas was confirmed with a Senate vote of 52-48.