On Tuesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Alex Wagner Tonight,” guest host Ali Velshi stated that outgoing Harvard President Claudine Gay’s resignation is “a story of bad actors, like Chris Rufo, trying to bend academia toward their own ideological missions.” And that mainstream outlets helped Rufo in his “crusade against the first black woman to serve as President of the oldest institution of higher education in the country” by covering Gay’s “at worst, instances of inadequate citation” that “are not what the word plagiarism makes you think of.”
Velshi said, “[N]ow, today, we are seeing the impact of Rufo’s latest crusade, a crusade against the first black woman to serve as President of the oldest institution of higher education in the country, Harvard President Claudine Gay. Last month, Rufo tweeted, ‘We launched the Claudine Gay plagiarism story from the right. The next step is to smuggle it into the media apparatus of the left, legitimizing the narrative to center-left actors who have the power to topple her. Then squeeze.’ In the past few weeks, allegations that Harvard’s President had plagiarized academic work accomplished exactly what Rufo predicted. They went from Rufo’s blog to the pages of conservative publications to mainstream publications like The New York Times. Now, Harvard itself has investigated the allegations and found that they are, at worst, instances of inadequate citation. But they are not what the word plagiarism makes you think of. Gay was not stealing anyone’s ideas, nor was she presenting other people’s ideas as her own. Nevertheless, today, Claudine Gay resigned anyway. The story of Claudine Gay’s resignation is about a lot of things. Was it easier for conservatives to push her out because she’s a woman? Was it easier because she’s black? Probably all of the above. But this is also a story of bad actors, like Chris Rufo, trying to bend academia toward their own ideological missions.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
