Claudine Gay resigned as president of Harvard, amid pressure over her response to questions about antisemitism at US colleges and allegations that she plagiarized some of her academic work. Her resignation came just six months after she was appointed as the first Black person and the second woman to lead the Ivy League institution.
The campaign against Gay was led by conservative activists, and championed by far-right congresswoman Elise Stefanik, whose combative questioning of university presidents at a congressional hearing went viral.
Republicans took a victory lap after Gay’s resignation, and Stefanik claimed credit.
At least one legal expert believes the appeals court will reject Trump’s immunity claim.
Steve Scalise, the second-highest ranking Republican in the House, endorsed Trump for president.
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Trump’s attacks on prosecutors who have brought charges against him could damage US democracy, experts fear.
Al Sharpton, the civil rights leader and MSNBC talk show host, said that Gay’s resignation amounted to “an attack on every Black woman in this country who’s put a crack in the glass ceiling”.
In a statement to CNN, he said his civil rights organization, the National Action Network would pickett outside the office of Wall Street financier and Harvard alum Bill Ackman, who pressured the university to fire Gay.
“If he doesn’t think Black Americans belong in the C-Suite, the Ivy League, or any other hallowed halls, we’ll make ourselves at home outside his office,” Sharpton said.
