'You've officially overreached': Morning Joe crew slams Trump for bullying institutions

06 May

The Trump Administration escalated its campaign against Harvard University on Monday, May 5 when the U.S. Department of Education announced that the Ivy League institution will receive no new federal grants until it agrees to a series of demands. President Donald Trump is hoping to strip Harvard of its tax-exempt status, and The Trump Administration already froze $2.2 billion in federal grants to Harvard.

During a Tuesday morning, May 6 conservation on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," two Never Trump conservatives — host Joe Scarborough and former Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-Florida) — were critical of Harvard for, they said, marginalizing conservative voices on campus. But they were much more critical of Trump, arguing that bullying Harvard is not a good way to address the university's "liberal bias."

Scarborough told Cubelo and fellow "Morning Joe" host Mika Brzezinski, "Republicans — former Republicans — we've always rightly been concerned about not only elitism, but also, about antisemitism, and a lot of the elite, elite universities across the country. And also, just the liberal bias that that has permeated so many of the departments. It seems to me, if you look at people running, now, Harvard, Yale — some of the best schools in America — they've been making these adjustments. They understand there's a problem."

Scarborough, a former GOP congressman, continued, "And you look at the polls that have come out: Americans do not like the federal government interfering in colleges and universities, even Harvard. Like, when you've got the American people on the side of Harvard, you've officially overreached. I'm curious, what is your recommendation? What would your recommendation be to Republicans on the Hill, Republicans in the (Trump) Administration, on the best way to go about doing this and defusing it?"

Carbelo agreed with Scarborough that "some of these universities" have "gone too far" and "shut out certain points of view."

"That's wrong, and we should encourage that improving," Carbelo told Scarborough and Brzezinski, "But when the government starts telling so many institutions how they have to behave — what exactly they have to do in a fairly subjective manner — I think that Trump coalition really starts to break down, especially those Hispanic voters…. I mean, it really starts to sound like big, big, massive government permeating all, you know, sectors of society and telling people what they have to do, how they have to think, how they have to live, what they have to become used to."

Carbelo continued, "I mean, that's why a lot of Hispanics came to this country: to flee, right, from that kind of big government, heavy- handed approach to managing a society. So I think, yeah, most people (feel) like, yes, these universities should reform. They certainly should abide by certain standards, but are we going to go in there and actually tell them what they have to teach, what they can't teach? I mean, that's a bit much, and I really think it starts to threaten and challenge that coalition the president put together."

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