Jonathan Lemire let the laugh--or at least the chuckle--out of the bag.
And in doing so, he let slip the liberal media's disdain for the Trump administration, and its knee-jerk defense of elite liberal institutions.
On today's Morning Joe, Lemire couldn't stifle a chuckle [video at 0:36] as he mentioned the claim by the Trump administration explaining its decision to revoke Harvard's right to enroll foreign students: "The DOJ also accused the university of coordinating [chuckles] with the Chinese Communist Party."
Liberals always presume that when you connect liberals to communists, it's automatically conspiracy garbage.
Before he guffaws again, Lemire needs to read this letter to Harvard from the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, which provides details on the kind of coordination with the ChiComs that he found so amusing:
1. Harvard repeatedly hosted and trained members of a CCP paramilitary organization, the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC).
a. XPCC is a primary implementer of the CCP’s genocide against the Uyghurs.
b. Harvard provided services to XPCC members multiple times after the Department
of the Treasury placed XPCC on the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked
Persons (SDN) List in 2020, including as recently as 2024.
2. Harvard researchers collaborated with China-based academics on research funded by an agent of the Iranian government.
a. This occurred on at least four occasions since 2020, and as recently as 2024.3. Harvard researchers used funding from the Department of Defense to partner with
China-based academics on research with potential military applications.
a. These projects involved Chinese universities that are linked to the Chinese military
and advanced aerospace and optics research with military applications.4. Harvard researchers partnered with China-based individuals linked to China’s defense, academic and industrial base on research that could advance China’s military modernization.
a. One project involved robotics research with potential military applications,
conducted in partnership with a researcher at one of China’s “Seven Sons of
National Defense” universities.5. Given the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC’s) extensive record of human rights abuses against religious and ethnic minorities, including by forcibly harvesting organs from such individuals, we request further information regarding the safeguards Harvard places around research collaborations related to organ transplantation when such research is conducted with PRC-based researchers.
Once Jonathan has had time to read and consider the letter and—who knows?—even do some reporting of his own on the concerns raised therein, perhaps the Morning Joe co-host will be chuckling out of the other side of his mouth
Here's the transcript.
MSNBC
Morning Joe
5/23/25
6:13 am EDTJONATHAN LEMIRE: More news from the Trump administration yesterday. It has now revoked Harvard University's ability to enroll international students, the latest escalation in its battle against that Ivy League school.
The Department of Justice announced in a letter yesterday that it is pulling the school's exchange visitor program certification, saying Harvard's created an unsafe campus environment that is, quote, hostile to Jewish students, promotes pro-Hamas sympathies, and employs racist diversity, equity, and inclusion policies.
The DOJ also accused the university of coordinating [chuckles] with the Chinese Communist Party.
Harvard called the action unlawful, and says it's working to provide guidance and support to students and the community. The university has nearly 7,000 international students, which make up about 27% of the entire student body.
Meanwhile, just a few moments ago, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, a big elite school there, shared an open invitation to international undergraduate and postgraduate students currently enrolled at Harvard, inviting them to continue their academic career at their school over in Hong Kong.
