ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt Praises Trump’s War on Harvard: ‘It’s a Good Thing’
Anti-Defamation League (ADL) CEO Jonathan Greenblatt praised President Donald Trump’s war against Harvard University, calling it a “good thing” on Wednesday.
Asked on CNBC’s Squawk Box about Trump’s ongoing war against Harvard, which resulted in the university filing a lawsuit against the Trump administration for violating its constitutional rights, Greenblatt said, “The reality is there are deep, systemic problems, not just at Harvard, but at all of these institutions, and it’s rampant at the faculty lounge, it’s apparent like in the Harvard yard, you can read it in The Crimson. All of it.”
Asked, “Do you support what the Trump administration has done and the way they’re doing it?” Greenblatt replied, “I am really glad that the Trump administration is leaning in and holding the perpetrators accountable. Now, the question becomes, how do you do it in a way that’s strategic and addresses the systemic issues that’s sort of detrimental to the whole enterprise of higher education?”
He continued, “I think it’s complicated, and at ADL we focus on the nuance, to be frank, but make no mistake, it is a good thing that President Trump is leaning in. It is a good thing.”
Greenblatt concluded, “In eighteen months we could not get these university presidents to move effectively enough. That’s why we released our report card. Suddenly, when the Trump administration threatened to pull the funds, they all move.”
Former Harvard University professor Laurence Tribe compared Trump’s attempted “takeover” of Harvard to Adolf Hitler on CNN this week.
“Nice little university you have there, be a shame if something happened to it. That’s what Hitler basically said, although it sounds different in the original German,” said Tribe. “And if we allow the government to take over private institutions that are centers of innovation, of medical advances, of advances in philosophy, of better understandings of history, we will play into the dictator’s handbook, because that is what dictators want.”
Watch above via CNBC.
