Legal AF by MeidasTouch - Trump Gets Mocked in Public by Harvard Crowd

Episode Date: May 30, 2025

At the same time that a Federal Judge in Boston entered a Preliminary Injunction to prevent the Trump Administration from killing Harvard’s foreign student program which is more than 25% of its student body, just 9 miles away, 32,000 people in the Harvard Community joined together to provide thunderous applause for Harvard’s President Alan Garber as a rebuke of Trump as the crowd learned that Harvard had just beaten Trump again in court. Michael Popok explains why this case is so important and how Harvard’s profile in courage is a blueprint for success against the ever “chickening out” Trump. Get 20% off when you go to https://Liquid-IV.com and use code LEGALAF at checkout! Remember to subscribe to ALL the MeidasTouch Network Podcasts: MeidasTouch: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/meidastouch-podcast Legal AF: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/legal-af MissTrial: https://meidasnews.com/tag/miss-trial The PoliticsGirl Podcast: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-politicsgirl-podcast The Influence Continuum: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-influence-continuum-with-dr-steven-hassan Mea Culpa with Michael Cohen: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/mea-culpa-with-michael-cohen The Weekend Show: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/the-weekend-show Burn the Boats: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/burn-the-boats Majority 54: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/majority-54 Political Beatdown: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/political-beatdown On Democracy with FP Wellman: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/on-democracy-with-fpwellman Uncovered: https://www.meidastouch.com/tag/maga-uncovered Coalition of the Sane: https://meidasnews.com/tag/coalition-of-the-sane Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What's better than a well-marbled ribeye sizzling on the barbecue? A well-marbled ribeye sizzling on the barbecue that was carefully selected by an Instacart shopper and delivered to your door. A well-marbled ribeye you ordered without even leaving the kiddie pool. Whatever groceries your summer calls for, Instacart has you covered. Download the Instacart app and enjoy $0 delivery fees on your first three orders. Service fees, exclusions, and terms apply. Instacart, groceries that over-deliver.

Discover the magic of Bad MGM Casino, where the excitement is always on deck. Pull up a seat and check out a wide variety of table games with a live dealer. From roulette to blackjack, watch as a dealer hosts your table game and live chat with them throughout your experience to feel like you're actually at the casino. The excitement doesn't stop there. With over 3,000 games to choose from, including fan favorites like Cash Eruption, UFC Gold Blitz and more, make deposits instantly to jump in on the fun and make same-day withdrawals if you win.

Download the BetMGM Ontario app today. You don't want to miss out. Visit betmgm.com for terms and conditions. 19 plus to wager Ontario only. Please gamble responsibly. If you have questions or concerns about your gambling or someone close to you, please contact Connex Ontario at 1-866-531-2600 to speak to an advisor free of charge.

BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. This podcast is sponsored by R.A.M.P. Look, there's feelings and then there's the facts. If you're feeling like your finance team is bogged down in mundane manual tasks, the fact is you need R.A.M.P. R.A.M.P. is the corporate card

that makes the expense process fast and easy. The moment your team makes a purchase, R.A.M.P. handles everything. Receipt collection and approvals, the works. With Ramp, you can cut your month-end clothes from five days to one, customize approval workflows, and get complete control over every transaction. Facts. Over 25,000 businesses trust Ramp, including Shopify and the Boys and Girls Club of America, which is why they were just named number one in spent management by G2.

Facts. Start using Ramp and you'll have more time to spend scaling your business. And that'll feel really good. Upgrade to Ramp for free today and get $250 at Ramp.com. That's Ramp.com. R-A-M-P dot com. Currents issued by sudden bank members of DIC terms and conditions apply. Currents issued by Sutton Bank members of DIC terms and conditions apply. We had a tremendous split screen moment today against Donald Trump, just nine miles apart in Massachusetts. On one hand, we had federal judge Burroughs, who after hearing argument is going to issue a preliminary injunction, one level up from temporary restraining order in favor of Harvard University to stop Donald Trump and the Trump administration from taking away

its right to participate in the international and foreign student exchange program to cut a quarter of all students out of Harvard the heart out of Harvard by Donald Trump no says Judge Burroughs I'm keeping my temporary restraining order in place while you guys work on a preliminary injunction draft I can live with and I'm going to enter a preliminary injunction nine miles away at the commencement in Cambridge for Harvard. Yes, it's commencement time, folks. Look at the calendar. We have President Garber, a strong opponent, a tough, tough adversary for Donald Trump, taking the podium to 32,000 people at Harvard and their community to thunderous applause,

especially when the murmur went around the crowd that they had obtained, Harvard had obtained, the preliminary injunction they were looking for to keep Harvard Harvard of Michael Popok. Let's keep Midas, Dutch and Legal AF, Midas, Dutch and Legal AF together in this new reporting. There's a lot of stories floating around about Harvard. I want to kind of tie it all together right now. There is the lawsuit about whether Donald Trump

can cut $3.3 billion worth of funding away from Harvard, take it away from Harvard and give it to who knows who trade schools to penalize Harvard. I'm not sure it's because the rumor about baron Trump being denied admission, but more so because this is an organization that is not bending the knee and is not kissing the ring for Donald Trump and he doesn't like it He's doing it under the fall. He's attacking Harvard under the false flag of anti-semitism on campus and

First-amendment expression of graduate students and so he wants to hit him where they live He wants to cut off their foreign student and the money related to foreign students He wants to take away their biomedical research grants, which only help you and me, and go after the oldest and one of the most prestigious universities in America. And Harvard fought back and is fighting back. It has two major law firms.

One, the prior law firm of Donald Trump, just about a month or so ago, Quinn Emmanuel. The other, represented by Robert Herr, Donald Trump's own US attorney from Maryland, who was the special counsel against Joe Biden. They joined forces together. So you got two separate set of cases that are, that where Harvard is winning. One, to block efforts to cut off their funding. The case I'm talking about now is with Judge Burroughs, and that's about the attempt for

the Trump administration to kind of kick Harvard and their brass ones and take away foreign dollars, foreign exchange program rights. One quarter of Harvard's campus is international. Half of the school of diplomacy, a quarter of the school of business is foreign. And that's okay. But that's the equity, diversity, diversity, equity, and inclusion Donald Trump can't get behind because he can't control it. And so you had this moment where in court today, word got out, because the order is not yet on the docket, but word got out that Harvard had won today. You know, forget sporting events.

They won where it matters in the court of law with Judge Burroughs. And that hit at the same time as the graduation commencement when Garber took the stage. And here's a clip. Members of the class of 2025 from down the street, across the country and around the world. Around the world, just as it should be. See, I couldn't lead with the clip because it would just look like another commencement day where somebody was telling you to use more sunscreen. But this was important because it shows that this is bringing and galvanizing the Harvard

community together. See they're not afraid of a few graduate students with bed sheets and spray paint, a statement of opinion at Harvard Square. I'm not scared of that. I might find some of what they say distasteful, but it needs to be in the public square of expression. And Harvard shouldn't be attacked for it. This show is sponsored by Liquid IV.

I was born by the beach and I haven't recovered since. Born in December, but a summer baby all the way. And my daughter, she was born on a 95 degree sweltering day last June. So I love summer. Prepping for a big summer means planning to stay hydrated. So you can get the most out of your body and live more during those warm summer months.

Visit liquidiv.com and maximize your summer plans with sugar-free hydration, featuring the new Raspberry Lemonade Hydration Multiplier. Get 20% off your first order with code LegalAF at checkout. I've made LiquidIV part of my daily ritual so that with one simple pack, I ensure that I'm getting not only hydration, but electrolytes and needed nutrients

to keep my personal battery charged. Like just before my wife and I do a quick jog to the gym, we fully hydrate with our favorite Liquid IV flavor. Liquid IV is the perfect way to stay hydrated during long days outside that often become even longer nights. Liquid IV features true to fruit flavors that keep you hydrated. Find all your favorite hydration multiplier flavors on their website from a Siberian lemon lime to pina colada or choose from their line of sugar-free flavors like raspberry lemonade, white peach, and rainbow sherbert. Break the mold and own your ritual.

Just one stick and 16 ounces of water hydrates better than water alone. Liquid IV is powered by Live HydroScience, an optimized ratio of electrolytes, essential vitamins, and clinically tested nutrients that turn ordinary water into extraordinary hydration. It has three times the electrolytes of the leading sports drink, and eight essential vitamins and nutrients.

Always non-GMO, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, and soy-free. Get ready for summer with extraordinary hydration from Liquid IV. Get 20% off your first order of Liquid IV when you go to liquidiv.com and use code LEGALAF at checkout. That's 20% off your first order with code legalaf at liquidiv.com. So we've got Harvard on a winning streak. Blocked funding being denied. Blocked the Trump administration trying to take away its foreign students and right to participate with international students. And think about what that would do to put Harvard at a tremendous

competitive disadvantage with the other Ivy League schools and other elite schools. Because they're taking in foreign dollars. Donald Trump just announced some random number. Like, you know, he loves telling businesses and institutions how to run themselves. Walmart, you should eat all my tariffs that I imposed for China. Yeah, we're not doing that. Harvard, you don't need 27% of your population to be foreign students. You should lower it to 15% so that more Americans

can get in there. Americans aren't being denied access to Harvard because there's not room there. They're being denied access because they're not qualified to attend Harvard. But again, because they're not qualified to attend Harvard. But again, Donald Trump presses a losing streak, doubles down on a losing hand, moments or just hours before he went into court, his lawyers went into court today for this losing proposition. They decided to start an administrative process

giving Harvard 30 days to give the reason why and defend themselves as to why they shouldn't lose their participation in this foreign and international exchange program to allow for foreign students. Forget all that administrative process. The judge wants a preliminary injunction drafted for her review that maintains the status quo, the world before Donald Trump attacked Harvard. And she's waiting for the parties, and this sometimes happens in cases, she wants the parties to take the first crack, the first draft of history and submit it to her. If she doesn't like it, she'll change it. When you submit something to a judge like that, she usually wants it or they want it in word so they can change it and redline

it. I've written many of these for courts. Many of them have been sort of just adopted wholesale. Others have been rewritten by the judge. It depends on how good you are at writing in the voice of the judge for what the judge is looking for. She gave those directions today. The other side, the side for Harvard said, we don't want any shenanigans, Judge,

in the order where they come up with all sorts of crazy language. The Judge says, work on it together, bring it back to me, and I'll take a look at it. Here's what the docket reads as of right now. This is what the students of Harvard, the faculty of Harvard, the family of Harvard, the supporters of Harvard were responding to, the thunderous applause for Garber. And when that rumor went around, that was true about them winning in court. This was just at her docket number 50 on the docket. Hearing on the preliminary injunction was held today. Notice of intent to withdraw the certification that was sent to Harvard last night. So she already referenced the fact that there was an administrative letter sent, a notice of intent to take Harvard out of the student exchange program that was

sent the night before the hearing. She continues, the TRO, the temporary restraining order, will remain in place while parties confer and submit either a joint proposed PI order, in other words, get together and agree on a preliminary injunction. She's not worried about the Harvard lawyers not agreeing. either a joint proposed PI order, in other words, get together and agree on a preliminary injunction. She's not worried about the Harvard lawyers not agreeing. She's worried about the Trump DOJ not agreeing. So try that or submit your individual proposed orders

for the judge to consider. In other words, competing orders are okay if you can't agree. Sometimes judges are like, we don't want competing orders. Just give me something that you both agree to, which puts everybody under a lot of pressure because you have to compromise in areas you may not want to compromise in.

But here she's saying, try, if you fail, send me each your version of the order for me to review. She's keeping the temporary restraining order in place while she considers what the preliminary injunction order, but she has entered a preliminary injunction. She's just waiting for the terms.

She goes on to say, status quo to remain in place while the notice of intent to withdraw process is ongoing. In other words, I know you've just started a process, but the status quo remains in place. My order blocks your process. And that's her order. The next thing I'm going to report on here on Midas Touch and on Legal AF is when I get my hot little hands on the final order, it'll take them a day or two. It'll probably be

a Friday submission and we can report on it over the weekend. But I wanted that split-screen moment for you and I wanted to talk about it here on Legal AF and on the Minus Touch Network. I'm Michael Popock. Come on over to Legal AF, the YouTube channel, where we go over these types of items every day, every way, one stop shopping for all things law and politics, and of course, the Legal AF Substack. So until my next report, I'm Michael Popock. Can't get your fill of Legal AF? Me neither. That's why we formed the Legal AF Substack. Every time we mention something in a hot take, whether it's a court filing or a oral argument, come over to the Substack, you'll find the court filing and the oral argument there,

including a daily roundup that I do call, wait for it, Morning AF. What else? All the other contributors from Legal AF are there as well. We've got some new reporting, we got interviews, we got ad-free versions of the podcast and hot takes. Where? Legal AF on Substack. Come over now to free subscribe.