Harvard University received an emailed letter from the Trump administration last Friday that included a series of demands about hiring, admissions and curriculum so onerous that school officials decided they had no choice but to take on the White House.It's quite clear what happened here (the Trumpers are full of shit), but even though the journalists clearly know this they still privilege the bullshit to make it sound as if Harvard is the unresonable party, that Harvard should've accepted the "mistake" claim and continued to grovel.
The university announced its intentions on Monday, setting off a tectonic battle between one of the country’s most prestigious universities and a U.S. president. Then, almost immediately, came a frantic call from a Trump official.
The April 11 letter from the White House’s task force on antisemitism, this official told Harvard, should not have been sent and was “unauthorized,” two people familiar with the matter said.
The letter was sent by the acting general counsel of the Department of Health and Human Services, Sean Keveney, according to three other people, who were briefed on the matter. Mr. Keveney is a member of the antisemitism task force.
Basically - we didn't mean to send you that, you should've talked to us, but also we mean it 200% actually.
A senior White House official said the administration stood by the letter, calling the university’s decision to publicly rebuff the administration overblown and blaming Harvard for not continuing discussions.The simple point is that if they can't beat this stuff in court then there's no point in going on. It's all over already. Spend your endowment then turn out the lights.
The broader point is that no one is in charge, because Trump isn't in charge, and maybe that's the story journalists should be telling more.