Former MSNBC host Chris Matthews proposed on Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s administration is “wiser” to Harvard and elite universities than anti-Semitism.
“We have to say that the administration sometimes sets its targets in the right direction. The country’s elite universities are not covered with roses exactly in the way that handle these demonstrations,” Matthews mentioned anti-Israel protests on campuses nationwide on October 7th in the 2023 national attacks.
The Trump administration announced on Monday it would freeze its $2.2 billion multi-year grants and contracts after Harvard President Alan M. Gerber announced it would not comply with the Trump administration’s demands that schools fight anti-Semitism.
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Former MSNBC host Chris Matthews joined MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Tuesday, responding back and forth between the Trump administration and Harvard University. (Screenshot/MSNBC)
“Whether you’re a Jewish student or not, you’ll want to go to class when you’re paying $90,000 tuition. You have the right to go to class and be taught by your professor and enjoy better university rights,” Matthews continued.
“And the fact that they had to be told to do this, they had to be told to let their students go to school.
Matthews also argued that he would not harm the president politically.
“It’s Trump chasing the elite. He knows what he’s doing, politically, it’s not going to hurt him. I think these universities have enough money to cover their legacy. They have a lot of money to handle it.
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The protesters were held at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA on October 14, 2023. (Reuters/Brian Snyder)
Vanity Fair’s Molly Jong-Fast pushed back and compared Trump’s move to “Thought Policing 101.”
“They use anti-Semitism as their cloak. If this administration really cares about anti-Semitism, there’s a lot they can do. This is to be a target for the university. This is to target speeches.
John Fast continued to argue that it was a government overreach “in the highest order” and had nothing to do with anti-Semitism.
Matthews replied, “I think there’s a real challenge. I asked a Jewish friend. I said I was worried. And I said I was worried. And this is a problem. And the treatment of those students is a serious problem in Colombia. You don’t stop your kids from going to school. Well, seriously, if you don’t think that’s the problem, then you have your own problem.”
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The Trump administration has announced it will freeze more than $2 billion in grants and contracts after Harvard University said it would not comply with federal demands on anti-Semitism. (AP image)
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John Fast said she was Jewish and agreed that America had a major anti-Semitism issue. But she added, “I don’t think taking over Harvard education and academia is the answer either.”
