Newsom Attacks Universities for Cooperating with Trump Administration

California Governor Gavin Newsom is throwing a tantrum again. This time, he’s railing against elite universities like Harvard, Columbia, and Brown for daring to restore federal funding by settling with the Trump administration. According to Newsom, these schools have “sold their soul” because they chose to comply with federal laws rather than cling to radical leftist ideology.

Newsom's outrage centers around the fact that several top-tier universities agreed to multimillion-dollar settlements to regain access to frozen federal research grants. These grants had been suspended by the Trump administration in response to universities either turning a blind eye to rising antisemitism or pushing divisive “woke” policies that had nothing to do with research or education.

During an appearance on the liberal podcast Pod Save America, Newsom said UCLA would never “sell their soul” like the others. He singled out institutions like Harvard, Brown, and Columbia, saying. “Shame on all of them. We’re not. And we’re going to fight like hell to protect our democracy, our liberties, our freedoms.”

Spare us the performance.

Here’s what Newsom conveniently left out:

• Harvard is reportedly nearing a $500 million settlement in order to regain access to over $2.6 billion in federal research grants.

• UCLA is facing a potential $1 billion settlement, with an additional $172 million fund for Title VII civil rights violations.

• The university has already paid $6 million to resolve a lawsuit from Jewish students and faculty, stemming from its failure to stop anti-Israel protesters from establishing a literal "Jew Exclusion Zone" on campus.

That’s right students and faculty were forced to watch their university cave to anti-Semitic agitators while administrators did next to nothing.

But instead of confronting that reality, Newsom wants to portray himself as a champion of principle. He’s doing this while defending a university that tolerated open discrimination and chaos because apparently, standing on “principle” means shielding leftist extremism from any consequences.

Newsom also made it clear that he’d rather forfeit billions in federal funding than cooperate with a Trump administration effort to restore law, order, and equality on college campuses. He ranted. “We’re not Brown, we’re not Columbia, and I’m not going to be governor if we act like that. Period. Full stop.”

That might be the best campaign promise he’s ever made.

The reality is simple: Trump is holding these institutions accountable for years of ideological rot, administrative cowardice, and civil rights violations. And Newsom is more interested in scoring points with the activist base than protecting students, enforcing the law, or ensuring academic institutions aren’t above accountability.

As we approach 2024, the contrast couldn’t be more clear. Trump is working to restore sanity and standards. Meanwhile, Democrats like Newsom are clinging to the woke chaos that most Americans are fed up with.

We’ll see which path voters prefer.

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