Editorials & Other Articles

Jason Johnson, a political scientist at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland, said: “Their goal is to intimidate and break down institutions of higher learning in America because that is where most of the resistance to their authoritarian tendencies is going to come from.

“They figure, if we can bankrupt Harvard, if we can embarrass Harvard, if we can put Harvard in a position of weakness or at least get them to bend the knee, then all the other institutions in America will follow. That’s why they’re doing this.”

Johnson warned: “Trump is not going to meet his match because he has the entire resources of the federal government at his disposal. Regardless of what Harvard does, there will be other universities who simply see the attack and comply in advance, and that ultimately would still be a victory for the Trump administration.”

Other commentators detect an element of class warfare. Trump won election last November with a base drawing largely on non-college-educated white men. Now he is stoking hostility towards the ivory towers of the US’s most elite university.