The Trump administration's decision to cut $2.2 billion from Harvard tonight makes clear just how essential this lawsuit is and how critical this fight is, and why it's so important for Harvard and really, every university in the country to take a stand at this critical moment, because this is a clear, unquestionable [00:00:17] violation of First Amendment rights. It's a transparent effort to change what is taught, what we what we say in our classrooms, what we teach our students to make sure that the only things that are actually set on university campuses are things that the Trump administration wants to hear. [00:00:33] Pretty much sums it up. So today, the Trump administration, federal government announcing that it is freezing more than $2 billion in funding for Harvard after the school refused to meet the Trump administration's demands, making them the first college to openly defy Donald Trump and his wishes. [00:00:52] We'll explain exactly what those demands were. But first thoughts on this one? Yeah. I went to Columbia Law, and I'm now embarrassed that I did. And I'm grateful that at least one university has decided to fight [00:01:08] back for our rights and not to get bullied by this authoritarian leader, Donald Trump, and not to get bullied by a foreign government named Israel. Of course Israel is behind all of this, and they're trying to make sure that no one is allowed to speak on American campuses against Israel. [00:01:28] We'll explain the details to show you, you know, how they're doing that and how Harvard is fighting back. And, and I'm glad that the battle is joined. Apparently, it will be quite the battle, too. Trump is punishing the elite college for not complying with instructions [00:01:47] laid out in a letter from his demand. Letter from his administration's Joint task Force to Combat anti-Semitism. At least that's what they're saying. The motivation is the ten demands, which the administration says are aimed at addressing antisemitism on campus include restricting the acceptance [00:02:05] of international students who are, quote, hostile to the American values and institutions. The administration also wants a third party to audit programs that it says fuel anti-Semitic harassment or reflect ideological capture. [00:02:21] NBC news with that's I mean, it's a quote. Additionally, they demanded that the university eliminate all D-I programs, all of them gone just like that. Reduce the power of students and faculty members over the university's affairs. Report foreign students who commit conduct violations [00:02:39] immediately to federal authorities. They're going to need more manpower. Bring in an outside party to ensure that each academic department is, quote, viewpoint diverse. It's interesting. They use the word diverse in that circumstance. [00:02:54] The administration didn't actually define what it meant by viewpoint diversity, but it's obviously implied that they want more conservative, Trump friendly opinions on campus. Here's how Harvard law professor Andrew Crespo, who is also involved in the [00:03:11] lawsuit against the Trump administration, described Donald Trump's demands. Antisemitism is vile and has no place in this country. But these actions are not about anti-Semitism. They're about authoritarianism. And we know that because we can see what the Trump administration has said [00:03:26] and what it has done. The Trump administration's demand letter that was made public today and sent to Harvard on Friday, asks for things that have nothing to do with anti-Semitism. It requires us to try to change who is hired, what we teach in our classrooms, what we say in our research. It says that it is trying to create ideological rebalancing. [00:03:46] That's code and actually not even code. It's pretty transparent. That is a message that's saying we don't like what you're teaching. We want you to teach something more to our liking. And unless you do that, we're going to try to bankrupt your institution. And so early on Monday, Harvard responded. They said, no, we're not going to do it. [00:04:02] They announced that they would be rejecting the demands, Writing this on X. The university will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights. Neither Harvard nor any other private university can allow itself to be taken over by the federal government. [00:04:19] Harvard President Alan M Garber called the demands unprecedented, denouncing them as an attempt to control the Harvard community by policing the viewpoints of students, faculty, and staff members. In response to that defiance, the administration's Joint Task Force to Combat Antisemitism said 2.2 billion [00:04:39] in multiyear grants and 60 million in multiyear contract value would be frozen to the Ivy League university. They argued that Harvard's refusal showed their entitlement mindset. Donald Trump himself went even further, writing this on Truth Social. [00:04:57] Perhaps Harvard should lose its tax exempt status and be taxed as a political entity if it keeps pushing political, ideological and terrorist inspired supporting sickness. Remember, tax exempt status is totally contingent [00:05:12] on acting in the public interest. All caps. Now, all the ramifications of the funding freeze are not totally clear. Not yet. But Harvard says it will have an impact on their ability to do scientific research work on technological developments, too. [00:05:29] Trump administration has also threatened many other colleges nationwide with funding cuts if changes in school policy weren't made, including Columbia, Cornell, UPenn, northwestern and others. But while Trump is trashing Harvard, they're getting support from some others, [00:05:48] including a former president, Barack Obama, who wrote this on X today. Harvard has set an example for other high higher ed institutions rejecting an unlawful and ham handed attempt to stifle academic freedom, while taking concrete steps to make sure all students at Harvard can benefit from [00:06:07] an environment of intellectual inquiry, rigorous debate and mutual respect. Let's hope other institutions follow suit. 876 faculty members at Yale, the Ivy League institution, also published a letter to their leadership expressing support for [00:06:25] standing up to the Trump administration. While it didn't mention Harvard explicitly, it did say this. We stand together at a crossroads. American universities are facing an extraordinary attacks that threaten the bedrock principles of a democratic society, [00:06:42] including rights of free expression, association and academic freedom. We write as one faculty to ask you to stand with us now. That faculty letter to the Yale administration, you know, [00:06:58] it's a brilliant and devious move. As you mentioned earlier in the segment. This is not about anti-Semitism. It's about bullying control. It's about what Trump wants, but it's a brilliant and devious move to put it in that cocoon, if you will, because it confuses some Americans. [00:07:18] Other Americans just say, oh yeah, that's a good thing. We don't want this on our college campuses. And others, if they disagree, want to use that word. They're too afraid to even stand up and say something. What do you think about Harvard and the support? [00:07:35] And maybe this could open the floodgates, I don't know. I know some people who work at some other Ivy League institutions in the administration, and last I checked in with them, they were cleaning up their act to make sure that there was no mention of Dei and some other things. [00:07:51] Yeah, well, I can't believe I'm saying this, but God bless Harvard. And, the administrators at Columbia should be eternally ashamed. What a bunch of cowards. And any other group that works with the Trump administration to limit academic freedom. There's two different issues here, guys. [00:08:07] So there's the attack on all of Israel's critics. And then there's the attack on academic freedom itself. So on the Israeli critics that has been proven to be the. The idea that there's look, there's let's break down the Joint Task Force [00:08:25] on combating anti-Semitism. Number one, let's note for the fact, for the record, that there is no task force on combating anti-Muslim points of view in America, or anti-Christian or anti Hindu or Buddhist or anything. The only thing that apparently matters. I'm not the one saying it. [00:08:43] They're the ones doing it is anti-Semitism. Now, if it was actually anti-Semitism, at least I'd care that they're getting rid of anti-Semitism. I'd say you should do the other ones as well, but don't impinge on anybody's freedom of speech. That's a tough balance to draw, right? Where you combat it with your own words and say how? [00:08:59] Why anti-Semitism is so bad and so is Islamophobia. ET cetera. ET cetera. Right. But they're not doing any of that. Instead, they're rounding up people not just based on whether they're anti-Semitic. They haven't proved anti-Semitism literally against anyone they have rounded up yet. [00:09:15] Right now I'm talking about the the the students that are being, arrested and deported. And we did a story about Madawi and other, Palestinian that was here, going to school at Columbia. He was arrested and he might be deported to the West Bank. [00:09:31] And he spoke out against anti-Semitism. He said it on TV. He said that during the protests, he couldn't have been clearer that he was against and and really strongly against when somebody was doing something that was anti-Semitic, he stepped up and said, that's not who we are and they don't represent us. [00:09:50] And he fought against anti-Semitism. So that proves that this task force is a giant, giant lie. And so here's the reality of it. And mainstream media doesn't tell you this because they love corruption. They love money in politics, and they think any discussion of it is unacceptable, because where does all that corruption go [00:10:07] and all that money and politics go? It goes straight into their pockets because it goes into ads and media. It pays all of their salaries. So what they don't tell you is that Sheldon and Miriam Adelson have given Trump $337 million in political contributions, [00:10:23] let alone all the other ways that money is being funneled to Trump through meme coins. ET cetera. ET cetera. But for sure, he's taken over $300 million in legalized bribes. And so he is serving his donors in that particular case. Miriam Adelson is an Israeli. [00:10:38] She's also an American, but she's literally an Israeli citizen. And she is super hard right wing Netanyahu supporter, seems to absolutely love the genocide and ethnic cleansing that's going on in Gaza, and hence she has ordered Donald Trump. [00:10:54] Anyone opposed to it must be rounded up. Okay. And I don't we don't she doesn't care. And Trump doesn't care about First Amendment freedom of speech. Our Constitution. No. If a donor commands you and to serve a foreign government, Trump will serve that foreign government. [00:11:09] And that's what he's doing by attacking Columbia, Harvard and all these other schools. No one is allowed to speak out against Israel. Okay? In America, we're going to tolerate that. That's disgusting. Okay. Number two is the attack on economic freedom. So we've talked about this on the Young Turks before. [00:11:25] I think some of the Dei programs, of course, are great, etc., in terms of bringing actual diversity to places and some, I think have overreached and overstepped and I, you know, and I would and it's case by case and you can show me Dei programs where I'd say, yeah, I'm not in favor of that one or I would curtail this part of it, but I [00:11:43] would do that within an organization. I would make a case for it, we would go through the process, etc. But if somebody said even on a program I didn't agree with that the government is stepping in and telling colleges, you are not to have academic freedom, you will get rid of that Dei program, not because it's right or wrong, [00:12:01] but because the government commands you and you do not have any freedom. You cannot set your own rules. You must listen to whatever the thought police in Washington say and you will do. Not factual correctness, but political correctness. [00:12:17] And that is exactly what this is. There is no argument against it. If you're a Maga guy who loves Trump and is will do anything, and you know that he tells you to do and support anything he supports, and you're ready to light the Constitution on fire on behalf of Israel. [00:12:32] ET cetera. Well, you can do all that, but you can't claim this isn't political correctness. At Columbia, they took. They're taking over the Middle Eastern Department, and they are not allowing them to actually give the real history of the Middle East. Now it has to be pre-approved by Israeli supporters. [00:12:49] What propaganda is allowed at Columbia in terms of teaching history? Well, even if you agree with that horrific policy, you can't say it's not political correctness. It's literally the definition of political correctness. [00:13:07] Columbia's program is factually correct, but it is not politically correct because it doesn't serve Israel. So it has now been changed, and it will serve Israel. And Harvard is saying no. And by the way, there's tons of Jewish administrators, professors, students at Harvard, and there are tons of them inside the peace protests [00:13:25] at Harvard, Columbia, etc.. This isn't about our brothers and sisters who are Jewish Americans. Okay. And some of our best fighters for peace, for academic freedom, and for our Constitution are Jewish Americans. This is about one government controlling another government and saying [00:13:42] no criticism will be allowed, and you'll even take it out of your textbooks. You'll take it out of your curriculum. You won't allow anyone to have any diversity of thought. That's why I laughed out loud when Sharon read that statement where the administration claimed they were doing this to avoid ideological capture. [00:14:02] No, the whole point of this program is ideological capture. You must serve Israel. You must serve Donald Trump. You must serve the far right. And if you try to do anything else, we're going to take, $2.2 billion away from you and bully you and intimidate you like a bunch of thugs. [00:14:20] By the way, one last thing on this. Harvard has a $53 billion endowment. If they didn't fight, I would have been furious. What do you raise a $53 billion endowment for? If you don't use it in a circumstance like this. Right. So. But they did, and they made the right decision. [00:14:38] And and I'm enormously thankful for it. And hey, look at that. President Obama came out of his, mansion for a second. So thank you, President Obama. I agree 100%. I think he should, you know, rally a lot of other people in that direction. But I appreciate that he at least made a statement on it. [00:14:55] Yeah. His alma mater. Listen, it's not Columbia anymore. Just like that, you capitulate. It's not. It's not elite anymore. If you cannot tell the truth and just go with that, it's. I don't just like that. To me, Columbia ceases to exist as this elite institution. [00:15:14] Every time you ring the bell below, an angel gets his wings. Totally not true. But it does keep you updated on our live shows.