Georgetown lecturer suspended after tweets about Biden court nominee

Ilya Shapiro, a recently hired administrator at Georgetown University Law Center and a prominent libertarian, has been suspended by the university after he tweeted that President Biden was not going to nominate “the objectively best pick” but a “lesser Black woman” to be the next Supreme Court justice, according to The New York Times.

Shapiro was slated to begin as a senior lecturer and executive administrator in a division of the law school just one day after he was placed on leave due to his controversial tweet, the Times reports.

The dean of Georgetown Law said that the school would be investigating if Shapiro violated the school’s policies on professional conduct, nondiscrimination and anti-harassment.

Shapiro’s tweet, which is now deleted, led to widespread criticism for the implication that a nominated Black woman would be “lesser.”

“Objectively best pick for Biden is Sri Srinivasan, who is solid prog & v smart,” Mr. Shapiro tweeted. “Even has identity politics benefit of being first Asian (Indian) American. But alas doesn’t fit into latest intersectionality hierarchy so we’ll get lesser black woman. Thank heaven for small favors?”

Sri Srinivasan is the Indian-born chief judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

Shapiro issued an apology Friday for his “poor choice of words” on Twitter.

He wrote in part, “A person’s dignity and worth simply do not, and should not, depend on race, gender, or any other immutable characteristic. While it’s important that a wide variety of perspectives and backgrounds be respected in the judiciary, so blatantly using identity politics in choosing Supreme Court justices is discrediting to a vital institution.”

Shapiro also tweeted Monday that he is “optimistic” that Georgetown’s investigation would be “impartial” and that he is “confident” that his tweet was within the university’s policies.