Harvard Law professor emeritus Laurence Tribe claimed Thursday on CNN’s “The Lead” that Harvard University will “outlast” President Donald Trump’s actions against them.
Host Jake Tapper said, “How long do you think Harvard can financially afford this standoff with the Trump administration, even with your huge endowment?”
Tribe said, “We’re going to stand up for basic principles for the rights of our students, for the rights of research, for the survival of the teaching hospitals as long as it takes. We can outlast this bully. What we have discovered is that he is a combination of ineptitude, vindictiveness, lawlessness and bluster. The people who caved to him and who make deals with him, the universities and the law firms who thought that if they paid his ransom, they would be safe, have learned that they’re not safe. He comes back for more. That’s the way it works. But because all of these demands, the attempt to take over essentially a private educational institution to tell us what we can teach, to tell our students, what they can say, what they can think, to tell law firms whom they can defend. Those efforts are absolutely illegal. It’s not even a close question.”
He added, “Judges across the spectrum are going to rule against Trump. We are going to prevail. And in doing so, we hope that we will give courage to others because the only way to deal with a bully is to stand up to him, to stand up in solidarity and say, no, you will not dictate all of us. You will not control our lives. You will not control our thoughts.”
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