Even “Shark Tank” millionaire Kevin O’Leary criticized President Donald Trump’s latest attack on Harvard University.
O’Leary, who noted he teaches at Harvard as a senior fellow, said on Fox News’ “Outnumbered” on Friday that he disagreed with the Trump administration’s plan to bar international students from attending the Ivy League university. He questioned why the U.S. would want to spend millions of dollars to teach international students, just to send them away.
“I will say one thing, though, in all of this debate, they curate remarkable students from all around the world. They don’t care their religion or geography or race, they just try and find the top 900 they can find, and they never cared. And then I met them myself, 37% of the class I’m teaching is from foreign countries,” O’Leary said.
“They don’t want to leave America. They don’t hate America. They want to get a passport, stay here and start a business,” he said.
Harvard sued the Trump administration after it tried to prevent the university from enrolling international students last week. A federal judge barred the administration from doing so and extended the order blocking the action on Thursday.
Trump has been targeting Harvard for months, saying that the school had fostered liberal ideals and antisemitism. Harvard has argued in its lawsuit that the administration has violated the First Amendment through its targeting of international students.
O’Leary jabbed the administration over its behavior toward Harvard on Friday.
“And I think I’m one of the lone voices pointing that out. Why would we want to take the brightest and the smartest people on Earth, and kick them out of the country after we spend millions teaching them? It seems stupid to me,” O’Leary said.
“These men or women are the very best, of the very best, of the very best that made the cut. Harvard has taken a lot of heat for other stuff, but they shouldn’t be taking heat for curating amazing cohorts, these kids are amazing and we gotta keep them here,” he added.
The dispute over international enrollment at Harvard is the latest escalation in a battle between the White House and the nation’s oldest and wealthiest college. In April, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem sent a letter to the school, demanding a range of records related to foreign students, including discipline records and anything related to “dangerous or violent activity.” Noem said it was in response to accusations of antisemitism on Harvard’s campus.
Harvard says it complied. But on May 22, Noem sent a letter saying the school’s response fell short. She said Harvard was being pulled from the federal program that allows colleges to sponsor international students to get U.S. visas. It took effect immediately and prevented Harvard from hosting foreign students in the upcoming school year.
In its lawsuit, Harvard argued the government failed to follow administrative procedures and regulations for removing schools from eligibility to host international students, which include giving schools the opportunity to appeal and a 30-day window to respond.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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