Lemon LIVE at 5 | Harvard Fights Back Against Trump! - April 15th, 2025
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Good evening, everyone. Welcome to Lemon Live at 5. Thank you so much. As you can see, I'm not in my home studio. I'm not in the studio at all. I am actually in Midtown, Manhattan. I am with Jim Acosta and Michael Cohen and, let's see, Tara Setmayer and others. Olivia Troy, we're here to, I'm helping them with their, they're having a no fear tour that they're starting. And so I think it was a good effort from them. So I'm here helping them out. We just got in, I just got connectivity. So I'm happy that you're here. Thank you so much for joining us. We have a great show and I think you're going to love The person we have on, I know you're going to love him because he's a friend of the show and he's been here before.
New York has always talked about what a great guest he is and how smart he is. So let's talk about fighting the power. When you see the thumbnail that we have now fighting the power, there are people and there are institutions, entities and organizations that are actually fighting back right now. There are few and far between, I believe. But they are starting to fight back, as are the people, the American people who are out on the street. They have been protesting. They have been supporting people like Senator Cory Booker, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Bernie Sanders, who have been out doing their tour and doing their town halls as well. So good evening. Welcome. Let me know where you're streaming from.
Thank you for joining us again. I think you're going to enjoy the show. Harvard is one of the institutions that's hitting back. Have you all heard about what's happening at the Ivy League, this Ivy League school? Perhaps, unlike big tech, unlike all the big law firms, unlike the corporate media companies, Harvard is refusing to capitulate to the Trump administration and their autocratic moves. Let me explain. Recently, here's what the White House did. They demanded that the oldest university in the United States, that it makes changes to hiring admissions and teaching practices. They claim... that these changes would help fight anti-Semitism on campus. Now, this is controversial. No one wants anti-Semitism or any kind of bigotry or any kind of discrimination on campus or anywhere.
But the question is, is this too far? Are they doing this with a heavy hand, with an iron fist? They claim that these changes would help fight anti-Semitism on campus, but in reality... This would just be affirmative action for MAGA, for the movement, for MAGA movement students and MAGA movement teachers. What do you think about all this? I want you to let me know, please, in the chat. I want you to be very active with me today in this chat. And I want to introduce the person that we have on right now. But first, hold on. Give me a second before we do all of that. Recently, they are demanding all this stuff and they are withholding money. So what they're saying is Trump has threatened to withhold billions in federal funds designated for research if the school doesn't comply to this.
OK, nothing new since returning to power. Trump has pushed to reshape top universities by threatening to withhold their money. And remember, after October 7th, there were a number of Ivy League university presidents who either left on their own accord or who were pushed out, okay? So Harvard became the first major university to reject the administration's demands yesterday, accusing the White House of trying to, quote, take control of its community. We also have some updates on Kilmar Abrego-Garcia. That case, his wife is speaking out for the first time. We have her on camera. So we've got so much to discuss. Fortunately, I have a very brilliant guest with me now to talk about all this. And that is one young and not only handsome but brilliant –
Khalil Green, he's a Peabody-winning Gen Z historian and a friend of the show. Thank you, Khalil, for joining us. And Khalil, I know that this one is very important to you, also very personal, close to home. How are you doing? And tell me why this is so important to you.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:14–7:20
2
Why is Harvard publicly rejecting the Trump administration’s demands on DEI and campus oversight?
7:20–14:12
3
What specific federal actions (funding freezes and threats) did the White House take against Harvard?
14:12–19:32
4
Why does Khalil Greene say targeting universities resembles historical authoritarian tactics?
19:32–45:57
5
How do proponents and critics define the administration’s push as 'thought policing' or national security?
45:57–48:39
Speakers
7 identifiedMore from The Don Lemon Show
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