Former president Barack Obama In a statement He praised Harvard University for rejecting the demands of President Donald Trump as the university faces a freezing of funds for alleged inaction in anti -Semitism.
“Harvard has given an example for other Higher ED institutions: rejecting an illegal attempt and with the hands in the ham of querying academic freedom, while taking concrete measures to ensure that all Harvard students can benefit from an intellectual research environment, rigorous debate and mutual respect,” he published Monday X on Monday X. “Hopefully other institutions do the same.”
Obama’s comment occurred after Harvard University said Monday that he refused to meet a series of Trump administration demands. On Monday night, the Joint Task Force of the Administration to combat anti -Semitism announced a billionaire freezing in funds for the university. (Harvard University has said that it is committed to fighting anti -Semitism and making changes to create a cozy environment).
Obama, a student of the Harvard Law Faculty, did not address the freezing of financing.
Barack Obama participates in a book talk with former German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the anthem on December 2, 2024 in Washington, DC.
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In recent comments in Hamilton College in Clinton, New York, Obama said he was worried about White House movements against universities.
“I do not believe that what we have just witnessed in terms of economic policy and tariffs will be good for the United States, but that is a specific policy. I am more deeply concerned about a federal government that threatens universities if they do not renounce students who exercise their right to freedom of expression,” Obama said, said According to a transcription of your comments.
He had also asked universities to give up what he framed as intimidation.
“If you are a university, you may have to discover, in fact we are doing things, right? In fact we have violated our own values, our own code, violated the law in some way? If not and you are only being intimidated, well, you should be able to say, that’s why we obtained this great endowment,” Obama said, according to the writing.
“We will defend what we believe and pay our researchers for a while outside that endowment and give up the extra wing or the elegant gym, which we can delay that for a couple of years because academic freedom could be a bit more important,” he added.
Trump, on Tuesday morning, asked Harvard to lose his tax -free state after the university said he would not meet the Trump administration demand series.
“Maybe Harvard should lose his tax exempt and be taxed as a political entity if he continues to press the” inspiration/respiration disease of the terrorist? Remember, the tax exempt from taxes depends totally on acting in public interest! “Triumph wrote in a publication on its social media platform.
Harvard University is exempt from the Federal Income Tax because it is an educational institution. It is also exempt from the income tax of the state of Massachusetts, According to the university.
People walk through Harvard Yard on Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachussetts, April 15, 2025.
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When asked during a press conference on Tuesday how serious Trump is about his Harvard call to lose his tax exemption state, the White House Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said the president has been “quite clear that they must follow the Federal Law.”
“He also wants to see Harvard apologize, and Harvard should apologize for the atrocious anti -Semitism that took place in his university campus against American Jewish students,” he said.
Leavitt also said that the university has not taken the demands of the administration in response to a question about the freezing of funds.
“Everything the president asks does not break the federal law, and then he can have his federal funds,” he said.
Kelsey Walsh from ABC News, Peter Charalambous, Selina Wang and Arthur Jones II contributed to this report.