Liberals may view MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow as something of an intellectual, but her Monday show disproved that notion. If all you did was listen to Maddow, you would come to the conclusion that Trump is waging war on universities simply because he can and not because they have an anti-Semitism problem.
The latest development in Trump’s battle with higher education came after Harvard refused to comply with a list of administration demands, resulting in the cutting of over $2 billion. Maddow lauded Harvard for not caving, “I have just one more thing to show you, because this was Saturday in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which is home, of course, to the most famous and prestigious university in the whole country, Harvard University. This was a Stand Up Harvard rally that happened in terrible rain and sleet and cold in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Saturday afternoon.”
She continued to wax poetic by claiming, “The theme was effectively courage, not capitulation. People are trying to shore up Harvard to tell them that they’ve got the gravitas and the weight and the wealth, that if they can’t lead, who can, that they should not capitulate to Trump’s threats, to Trump’s demands, to let him essentially take over and subjugate the universities.”
By “subjugate the universities,” Maddow meant that the administration was demanding that the departments most to blame for fanning the flames of anti-Semitism be reviewed and, if necessary, reformed. It also demanded Harvard actually enforce its rules and have a consistent disciplinary system, adopt a merit-based admission policy, and shutter its DEI apparatus (by the school’s own admission, Columbia University’s DEI bureaucracy was a hindrance to addressing anti-Semitism).
It is not as if Harvard is the victim. They are currently being sued for failing to stand up to anti-Semitism on campus. Alleged incidents include Harvard employees vandalizing hostage posters, demanding Jewish students debate them on whether or not Jews did 9/11, and posting threatening videos of themselves wielding machetes. Meanwhile, last year’s demonstrations effectively shut down certain areas of campus and were rewarded with meetings and capitulations.
Maddow, of course, mentioned none of this. Instead, she declared of Trump’s move:
It has thus far been war on international students, war on academic freedom, war on campus free speech. It’s been war on government research funding. It’s about to be war on university endowments. And so these people turned out on Saturday in the wind and the cold, one protest among a gazillion. But in this case, they were just telling Harvard, ‘Don’t do it, don’t capitulate. Stand up.’ This was Saturday, and tonight, here’s the banner headline in the Boston Globe, quote, ‘Harvard refuses to comply with Trump’s demands, says it won’t,’ quote, ‘allow itself to be taken over by the federal government.’
But it will allow itself to be taken over by the mob.
Here is a transcript for the April 14 show:
MSNBC The Rachel Maddow Show
4/14/2025
9:18 PM ET
RACHEL MADDOW: I have just one more thing to show you, because this was Saturday in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which is home, of course, to the most famous and prestigious university in the whole country, Harvard University. This was a Stand Up Harvard rally that happened in terrible rain and sleet and cold in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Saturday afternoon.
The theme was effectively courage, not capitulation. People are trying to shore up Harvard to tell them that they’ve got the gravitas and the weight and the wealth, that if they can’t lead, who can, that they should not capitulate to Trump’s threats, to Trump’s demands, to let him essentially take over and subjugate the universities.
It has thus far been war on international students, war on academic freedom, war on campus free speech. It’s been war on government research funding. It’s about to be war on university endowments. And so these people turned out on Saturday in the wind and the cold, one protest among a gazillion. But in this case, they were just telling Harvard, “Don’t do it, don’t capitulate. Stand up.” This was Saturday, and tonight, here’s the banner headline in the Boston Globe, quote, ‘“Harvard refuses to comply with Trump’s demands, says it won’t,’ quote, ‘allow itself to be taken over by the federal government.’”
