Late Night Comedians Celebrate Harvard’s Rejection of Trump’s Demands

Several late-night comedy shows ran segments on Harvard’s Monday decision to reject the Trump administration’s demands, praising the University while criticizing the White House.

The programs — including Jimmy Kimmel Live, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, and The Daily Show hosted by Ronny Chieng — all shared similar messaging on Harvard’s defiance, while cracking jokes at the University.

“Harvard, unlike a lot of schools, is standing strong. They tweeted. They said: we will not surrender. My money’s on Harvard. I grew up in the 80s. I’ve seen ‘Revenge of the Nerds,’ I know who wins these,” Kimmel said.

While the comedians poked fun at Harvard, a majority of their jokes took aim at the Trump administration.

“And who better to determine what colleges should and should not be doing than the man who had to shell out $25 million in penalties for running a fraudulent university he named after himself?” Kimmel said.

The comedy-centric coverage of Harvard comes as Trump’s administration has retaliated against the University’s defiance, pausing $2.2 billion in funding to the University and making plans to remove its tax-exempt status.

While Kimmel focused on Trump in general in his remarks, Colbert spoke specifically on Trump’s actions towards the University.

“Hey, Trump administration, now you’re just like the rest of us, because you just got rejected by Harvard,” Colbert joked.

But Colbert also took direct aim at the Trump administration, calling their demands “ridiculous”.

The administration wanted Harvard “to report foreign students who commit conduct violations immediately to federal authorities,” Colbert said.

The next day, the Department of Homeland Security sent Harvard a letter demanding it turn over records for the disciplinary and protest history of all international students. The letter, signed by Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, threatens Harvard’s ability to host international students.

Despite Trump’s threats, Colbert was optimistic that Harvard will continue to stand up to the administration.

“Just listen to the battle cry of their fierce, defiant youths,” he said before playing a clip of acapella group The Krokodiloes singing ‘Happy Together.’

“That’s right, infringe on their constitutional rights and The Krokodiloes will kick your ass in five part harmony,” he said.

Chieng, who had the longest segment on the University, put a special emphasis on Harvard alumni who have been speaking out about Trump’s actions.

“The best part about Harvard's resistance to Donald Trump is that it gives people the chance to go on TV and let you know where they went to school,” he said.

He then played a clip of Rep. Elise M. Stefanik ’06 (R-N.Y.) on a Fox News broadcast, where she said, “I myself am a first-generation college graduate. I graduated from Harvard.”

Kimmel joined Chieng in joking about Harvard alumni, taking shots at the president.

“Trump’s defense is that Matt Damon went to Harvard, so they obviously don’t care too much about merit,” Kimmel joked.

— Staff writer Shawn A. Boehmer can be reached at shawn.boehmer@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @ShawnBoehmer.

— Staff writer Jack B. Reardon can be reached at jack.reardon@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @JackBReardon.