Holy Shit - Obama finally speaks out

[Dennis Donovan]

14. Syracuse.com: 'Do not get discouraged': Obama urges universities and law firms to stand up to Trump

Syracuse.com - (archived: https://archive.ph/eYYzh ) ‘Do not get discouraged’: Obama urges universities and law firms to stand up to Trump

Updated: Apr. 04, 2025, 6:52 a.m.|Published: Apr. 03, 2025, 9:26 p.m.

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But Obama said while he disapproved of new tariffs that sparked the stock selloff, he was more worried about Trump’s attacks on American values.

“I’m more concerned with a federal government that threatens universities if they don’t give up students who are exercising their rights to free speech,” Obama said, without ever citing Trump by name. “The idea that they can say to law firms that if you represent parties we don’t like we’re going to pull all our business is contrary to the basic compact we have as Americans.”

Trump, a Republican first elected after Obama’s two terms, has threatened to withhold billions in federal funds from universities unless they change their policies on diversity and student protests. He has also revoked security clearances for lawyers in liberal law firms.

Obama urged universities, law firms and citizens to fight back.

“If you’re a law firm being threatened, you might have to say, ‘We might lose some business because we stand for a principle,‘” the Democratic former president said. “If you are a university you might have to say, ‘We stand up for what we believe in and we’ll pay our researchers for a while from our endowment.‘”

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