{"id":2419856,"date":"2025-04-04T10:41:02","date_gmt":"2025-04-04T14:41:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/obama-rips-into-law-firms-and-universities-bowing-to-trump-threats\/"},"modified":"2025-04-04T10:43:20","modified_gmt":"2025-04-04T14:43:20","slug":"obama-rips-into-law-firms-and-universities-bowing-to-trump-threats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/obama-rips-into-law-firms-and-universities-bowing-to-trump-threats\/","title":{"rendered":"Obama rips into law firms and universities bowing to Trump threats"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fobama-rips-into-law-firms-and-universities-bowing-to-trump-threats%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2419856&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Former President Barack Obama addressed students at Hamilton college, urging academic and legal institutions to resist the pressures from the Trump administration, especially concerning actions related to antisemitism and free speech on campuses. He criticized the administration for threatening universities with cuts to federal funding if they do not comply with its demands,particularly regarding the treatment of students involved in pro-Palestinian protests. Obama emphasized the importance of standing firm in upholding First Amendment rights, even at the risk of losing funding.<\/p>\n<p>He expressed deep concern over how some universities,such as Harvard and Columbia,have responded inadequately to antisemitism on campuses but still yielded to the administrationS demands. His call to <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">action included urging educational leaders<\/a> to prioritize thier ethical values over federal support.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, Obama also addressed prominent law firms that have faced backlash from the Trump administration for perceived partisan actions. He condemned the White House&#8217;s threats to cut buisness with firms based on their depiction of clients and called for these firms to adhere to principle over profit. The remarks coincided with former Vice President Kamala Harris&#8217;s statements calling for courage against unconstitutional pressures, citing a growing atmosphere of fear in response to the administration&#8217;s tactics.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Obama rips into law firms and universities bowing to Trump threats at Hamilton College<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2080396\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Former President<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/barack-obama\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\"> Barack Obama<\/a> urged academic and legal institutions to step up resistance to President<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\"> Donald Trump<\/a>&rsquo;s agenda during a speech at New York&rsquo;s Hamilton College.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>As he spoke to a crowd of college students, Obama referenced the Trump administration&rsquo;s high-profile effort to target antisemitism in public educational systems. Federal funding has been threatened and, in some cases, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/education\/3341396\/trump-administration-cancels-columbia-university-grants-worth-400-million\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">pulled<\/a> from leading universities based on the White House&rsquo;s belief that the schools are allowing antisemitism to foment during pro-Palestinian protests. Several students in the U.S. on green cards have also been arrested due to the Trump administration&rsquo;s accusations that they <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/crime\/3345064\/trump-administration-duel-mahmoud-khalil-lawyers-over-where-case-should-be-heard\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">have supported terrorists<\/a> and participated in pro-Hamas activity.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/crime\/3370232\/two-arrested-dc-tesla-vandalism-political-hate-speech\/\">Two arrested in DC over Tesla vandalism face charges of &#8216;political hate speech&#8217;<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/washington-secrets\/3370240\/amazon-welcomes-official-trump-brand-store\/\">Amazon welcomes the Official Trump Brand Store<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/world\/3370242\/yoon-suk-yeol-removed-south-korea-president-martial-law\/\">Yoon Suk Yeol removed as South Korea&#8217;s president over short-lived martial law<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Obama characterized the Trump administration&rsquo;s actions as an attack on First Amendment rights, and suggested universities aren&rsquo;t doing enough to combat the White House&rsquo;s initiatives, saying he was &ldquo;deeply concerned with a federal government that threatens universities if they don&rsquo;t give up students who are exercising their right to free speech.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>He continued to urge academia chiefs not to comply with the White House&rsquo;s demands, even if it means losing federal funding. <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;If you are a university, you may have to say&hellip; are we in fact doing things right? Have we in fact violated our own values, our own code, violated the law in some fashion?&rdquo; Obama said. &ldquo;If not and you&rsquo;re just being intimidated, you should be able to say, well that&rsquo;s why we&rsquo;ve got this big endowment. You know, we&rsquo;ll stand up for what we believe in, and we&rsquo;ll pay our researchers for a while out of that endowment, and we&rsquo;ll give up the extra wing or the fancy gymnasium.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Obama&rsquo;s warning comes as several <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/paul-krugman-blames-the-media-for-americans-thinking-the-economy-sucks\/\" title=\"Paul Krugman Blames the Media for Americans Thinking the Economy Sucks\">top academic institutions<\/a>, including Harvard, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/education\/3356001\/columbia-agrees-trump-demands-federal-funding-pulled\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Columbia University<\/a>, and the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/education\/3356001\/columbia-agrees-trump-demands-federal-funding-pulled\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">&nbsp;University of California<\/a>, Los Angeles, have conceded they <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/policy\/education\/3366121\/alan-garber-harvard-antisemitism-trump-threatens-funding\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">have not conducted a &ldquo;perfect&rdquo; <\/a>response to antisemitism on campuses and rolled out campaigns to further protect Jewish students. <\/p>\n<p>Obama also spoke to some of the country&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/sanctioned-or-not-russians-abroad-find-their-money-is-toxic\/\" title=\"Sanctioned or not, Russians abroad find their money is \u2018toxic\u2019\">leading law firms<\/a> that the White House cut ties with over concerns they had become partisan machines weaponizing the legal system against conservatives and Trump. Several of those firms, including&nbsp;Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton &amp; Garrison LLP, and<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3367047\/trump-white-house-deal-law-firm-willkie-farr-gallagher-doug-emhoff\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\"> Willkie Farr &amp; Gallagher<\/a>, negotiated their way back into Trump&rsquo;s good graces<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3354891\/trump-order-paul-weiss-deal-law-firm\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\"> with deals that pledged <\/a>to &ldquo;be fair and nonpartisan for all&rdquo; and represent the &ldquo;full spectrum of political viewpoints of our society, whether &lsquo;conservative&rsquo; or &lsquo;liberal.&rsquo;&rdquo;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Former President Barack Obama talks with President Donald Trump as Melania Trump listens and as Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff arrive before the state funeral for former President Jimmy Carter at Washington National Cathedral in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo\/Jacquelyn Martin)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Obama slammed the White House for cutting ties with the firms, which included prohibiting any government contracts with Weiss&rsquo; law firm. However, he also called on the groups to &ldquo;stand for a principle&rdquo; and suggested negotiations with Trump were unacceptable.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The idea that a White House can say to law firms, if you represent parties that we don&rsquo;t like, we&rsquo;re going to pull all our business or bar you from representing people effectively&hellip;that kind of behavior is contrary to the basic compact we have as Americans,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;Yeah, if you&rsquo;re a law firm being threatened, you might have to say &lsquo;ok we will lose some business because we&rsquo;re going to stand for a principle.&rsquo;&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>    <iframe src=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/@realDonaldTrump\/114197044617921519\/embed\" class=\"truthsocial-embed\" style=\"max-width: 100%; border: 0\" width=\"600\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script src=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/embed.js\" async=\"async\"><\/script>    <\/p>\n<p>On the same day Obama called for mounted resistance against the Trump administration, former Vice President Kamala Harris<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/3370197\/harris-surprise-appearance-at-summit\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\"> similarly bemoaned<\/a> &ldquo;organizations staying quiet&rdquo; and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hollywood-celebs-rage-in-defeat-after-barrett-confirmation-revolting-disgraceful-unconscionable\/\" title=\"Hollywood Celebs Rage in Defeat After Barrett Confirmation: &#039;Revolting. Disgraceful. Unconscionable&#039;\">urged people<\/a> to &ldquo;stand with courage&rdquo; against the White House.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3348940\/trump-executive-action-federal-agency-cut-biden-order-paul-weiss-law-firm-mike-pomerantz\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">TRUMP EXECUTIVE ACTIONS TARGET FEDERAL AGENCIES, &lsquo;HARMFUL&rsquo; BIDEN ORDERS, AND PAUL WEISS LAW FIRM<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We are seeing organizations stay quiet. We are seeing those who are capitulating to clearly unconstitutional threats. And these are the things that we are witnessing each day in the last few months in our country, and it understandably creates a great sense of fear,&rdquo; Harris, who ran a losing campaign against Trump during the 2024 presidential election, said.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;When a few stand with the courage, that is the courage exhibited by the leaders in this room every day, to have the courage to say, &lsquo;I feel fear,&rsquo; the courage to say, &lsquo;what is happening is wrong,&rsquo; the courage to say, &lsquo;there is a way we must chart to get through this,&rsquo;&rdquo; she continued.&nbsp; &ldquo;Understanding our power in the democracy we still have if we hold on to it. Courage is contagious.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_2080396\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"2080396\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Obama criticizes law firms and universities yielding to Trump at Hamilton College<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3142,"featured_media":2419862,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Barack-Obama-uuj5.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651,538],"tags":[7375,32730,5315,3634,10658],"class_list":["post-2419856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","category-washington-examiner","tag-criticism","tag-law-firms","tag-obama","tag-trump","tag-universities"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Barack-Obama-uuj5.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2419856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3142"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2419856"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2419856\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2419866,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2419856\/revisions\/2419866"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2419862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2419856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2419856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2419856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}