Famed psychologist says Trump is 'in need of behavior therapy' with latest move

One Harvard Professor is railing against President Donald Trump and the administration, claiming they are “in need of behavior therapy,” in a New York Times guest essay.

Steven Pinker is a Professor of psychology at the University who expressed concern for the funding and student visa cancelations facing The Crimson. “These cancellations are not just injustices against individuals,” Pinker wrote. “Honest scholarly inquiry is difficult if researchers constantly have to watch their backs lest a professional remark expose them to character assassination, or if a conservative opinion is treated as a crime.”

Pinker pointed out Ronald Sullivan was dismissed from Harvard as faculty dean of a residential house “when his legal representation of Harvey Weinstein made students feel ‘unsafe.’"

He claimed the move made by Harvard “abdicated its responsibility to educate mature citizens by indulging its students’ emotions rather than teaching them about the Sixth Amendment and the difference between mob justice and the rule of law.” It’s a notable ding at Harvard coming from one of its own professors.

EXCLUSIVE: Trump accused of new grift that puts Qatari plane in shade

But Pinker believes Trump took this mindset too far, saying, “But a woke madrasa? This is black-and-white splitting, in need of behavior therapy.”

“Simply enumerating cancellations, especially at a large and conspicuous institution like Harvard, can overshadow the vastly greater number of times that heterodox opinions are voiced without anyone making a fuss,” Pinker said. “As troubled as I am by assaults on academic freedom at Harvard, the last-place finish does not pass the smell test.”

The professor also slammed the administration for cutting funding, saying, “Mr. Trump’s strangling of this support will harm Jews more than any president in my lifetime. Many practicing and aspiring scientists are Jewish, and his funding embargo has them watching in horror as they are laid off, their labs are shut down, or their dreams of a career in science go up in smoke.”

He went on to say, “This is immensely more harmful than walking past a ‘Globalize the Intifada’ sign,” and added that Trump’s concern “for Jews is patently disingenuous, given Mr. Trump’s sympathy for Holocaust deniers and Hitler fans."

Pinker noted throughout the article that both Harvard and Trump are not angels or devils in the situation, “most people are a mix of strengths and flaws.” However, he believes the moves made by Trump lack “the appropriate treatment (as with other imperfect institutions).”

The best thing Pinker believes what should be happening instead of a blatant funding cut “is to diagnose which parts need which remedies, not to cut its carotid and watch it bleed out.”

The Professor also noted Harvard invented one of President Trump’s favorite things, the golf tee. The Crimson was also the launch pad for “Sesame Street,” The National Lampoon, “The Simpsons,” Microsoft, and Facebook.