Steven Pinker says there is ‘grain of truth’ in Trump’s criticism of Harvard
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Harvard psychology professor Steven Pinker said there is “a grain of truth” in President Donald Trump’s claim that Harvard University is a “liberal mess.”
“President Trump has described Harvard as a liberal mess, hiring almost all woke, radical left idiots and birdbrains,” CBS’ Bill Whitaker asked Pinker during “60 Minutes.” “The language is a bit harsh, but is there any point here?”
“Not there, no. I don’t agree with that. I think there’s some truth to it,” Pinker said. “I think there needs to be more voices from the right at Harvard.”
USA BLOCKED TRUMP’S EFFORT TO FREEZE MORE THAN $2 BILLION OF HARVARD FUNDS
US-Canadian author and cognitive psychologist Steven Pinker poses in Paris on November 5, 2021. (Geoffroy Van Der Hasselt/AFP via Getty Images)
The Trump administration targeted elite universities over anti-Semitism. Trump cut more than $2.2 billion in federal funding to Harvard earlier this year after failing to follow the recommendations of a federal anti-Semitism task force. A judge in Boston blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to cut funding in September.
Pinker added that he doesn’t think Trump should be the one determining whose voice is acceptable.
Whitaker asked Pinker where he believed Harvard went wrong.
“I think there are too many incidents where someone expresses a controversial opinion and gets shamed or canceled,” Pinker said.
Harvard University did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
CONSERVATIVE HARVARD STUDENTS REVEAL FEAR OF ACADEMIC REPRALITATION AND SOCIAL DISTANCE OVER RIGHT WING BELIEFS
President Donald Trump gestures as he boards Air Force One for South Korea from Haneda Airport in Tokyo, Japan, on October 29, 2025. (Kim Kyung-Hoon/Pool/Anatolia via Getty Images)
In particular, he pointed out former Harvard professor Carole Hooven, who previously taught the “Hormones and Behavior” human evolutionary biology course at the university.
Hooven said school administrators did not support him after comments he made about biological sex in a Fox News interview.
“The ideology seems to be that biology is actually not as important as how someone feels about themselves or what their gender is,” the former professor told Fox News in 2021.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE NEWS ON MEDIA AND CULTURE
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD FOX NEWS APPLICATION
“The reality is that there are actually two genders – there are male and female – and those genders are determined by the type of gametes we produce,” he said.
