Republicans are reveling in President Trump’s fight with Harvard University, fulfilling the years-long itch to take on leftists in the Ivy League and “woke” ideology, all while boosting the populist narrative of fighting elites.

Even as the escalating battle gets pushback from Democrats who warn about independence at Harvard and other educational institutions more broadly, Trump is far from crossing any lines for most conservatives.

Trump’s fight against Harvard and other Ivy League institutions is one that conservatives have been salivating at for years, especially since the on-campus protests against Israel following Hamas’s attack in October 2023.

But more than anything, Republicans believe this is a perfect situation to paint Democrats into a corner and force them to defend Harvard and similar universities.

“There is a bubble around Boston, New York, and D.C., maybe that thinks highly of Harvard. But these days, those who don't think that Harvard is horribly woke and lost think they're condescending and full of it,” said former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R), who heads the Young America’s Foundation, a top conservative organization aimed at activating young conservatives.

“So there's really not a lot of downside to what Trump's doing.”

“They've been able to get away with whatever they wanted before,” Walker said of Harvard.

“And now, even in circles you wouldn't necessarily expect, people are like, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute.’”

Ire on the GOP side has been building for much of the past decade against Ivy League institutions, especially over what they maintain is a left-leaning bias that has stamped out the voices of conservatives on campus.

Harvard’s battle with Trump is serving as the culmination of those complaints. Republicans cheering on Trump’s efforts to cut off federal grants to the school and prevent it from enrolling international........

© The Hill