Guess Harvard University isn’t as smart as President Trump.
Under the CARES Act, which was passed by Congress at the end of March, Harvard University received $9 million in federal coronavirus relief funds.
The problem? Harvard is already filthy rich–with an endowment worth a whopping $40.9 billion. (That’s billion, with a B.)
Harvard helping themselves to taxpayer dollars caused a huge backlash on both sides of the aisle–and President Trump himself got involved.
“Harvard should give back the money now,” said President Trump in a tweet on Tuesday. “Their whole ‘endowment’ system should be looked at!”
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin took a less public but more direct approach–saying he had phoned the president of Harvard on Tuesday morning.
“I think Harvard thinking seriously about whether it’s appropriate for them to keep the money or give it to other institutions that need it,” Mnuchin said.
With mounting criticism, Harvard bizarrely claimed they didn’t receive any funds from the CARES Act. However, as the Trump administration continued to push them to give up the funds, Harvard soon capitulated.
“Harvard has decided not to seek or accept the funds allocated to it by statute,” the university said, in a statement. “We will inform the Department of Education of our decision and encourage the department to act swiftly to reallocate resources previously allocated to Harvard.”