Harvard history professor Allison Johnson clashed with NewsNation host Chris Cuomo on Monday over her support for the university’s president, Claudine Gay, stating he was “getting everything wrong” about her December testimony to Congress.
Johnson appeared on “Cuomo” to discuss the recent faculty support of Gay, which the history professor was a part of, amid rising tensions to have her step down. The Harvard history professor and Cuomo argued over their take on Gay’s congressional testimony, where Gay went viral for her response on whether or not calls for genocide of Jewish students were against the school’s code of conduct.
Cuomo pointed out Gay was not only “prepped” on the issue, but the questions were fairly “easy.” Johnson pushed back, stating they both could not tell what Gay was thinking. (RELATED: ‘They Know He’s Going To Lose’: Biden Challenger Calls Out Dems For ‘Dancing Around’ Elections)
“The problem for the president is, these were not curveballs, okay? She was prepped on what to say and what not to say. And these were easy questions, okay? And I can’t believe that she just, after the fact said, ‘Well, those answers sucked! I don’t know why I said that.’ She said what she wanted to say. She just doesn’t like how it went over. What am I getting wrong here?” Cuomo questioned.
“Well I think you’re getting everything wrong that you just said. In my personal opinion of course, I don’t know any better than you do what Claudine Gay thinks. I’m not a close friend of hers,” Johnson stated.
Cuomo jumped in, “Well I know that a law firm prepped her for the testimony.” However, Johnson misheard the host, questioning him if he believed she had prepped Gay. Cuomo then repeated himself, pushing Johnson to state not only should Gay have been prepped by “someone else,” but claimed the question “confused” Gay. (RELATED: Over 500 Harvard Faculty Sign Letter Defending Claudine Gay Amid Calls For Removal Over Congressional Testimony)
“Well I think we all wish she was prepped by someone else, right? I think that the questions in the context in which they were being asked over the course of the five hours of hearings actually were not that individual question, which should have been easy to answer. But that question in the context of other questions that preceded it confused — I can only assume it confused her,” Johnson stated.
“This is easy! ‘Should they be saying anything that is derisive about the Jews?’ ‘No! Not as a mass group. No, they shouldn’t.’ ‘But you didn’t do anything about it.’ ‘Well, I should have and we will. May I go home now?’ That was it,” Cuomo stated.
More than 700 Harvard professors signed a petition asking the university’s governing boards to “resist political pressures that are at odds with Harvard’s commitment to academic freedom,” according to WGBH. Johnson had helped organize the petition, stating “The independent university is a critical part of a healthy, vibrant democracy in which many different viewpoints can coexist,” the outlet reported.
Since the backlash from the hearing, Gay publicly apologized to university students, stating the “calls for violence” towards Jewish students have “no place at Harvard,” noting her regret for her previous testimony.