Harvard Hosts Anti-Trump, Anti-Israel CNN News Anchor As Grad Speaker

Amid Harvard’s clash with the Trump administration over fostering an antisemitic environment, the university’s John F. Kennedy School of Government tapped a CNN anchor critical of Israel and President Donald Trump to deliver its 2025 graduation address.

Christiane Amanpour delivered the address to the student body the day before the commencement ceremony, in which she hailed academics as fighting “on the front lines of the current struggle between the two halves of America.”

CNN's Christiane Amanpour, known for anti-Israel & anti-Trump controversies, delivered Harvard Kennedy School’s grad address, calling education "on the front lines between the two halves of America" and saying that Europe welcomes "those who are having their roles taken away." pic.twitter.com/uo2qQ7ZOT0

— Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) May 28, 2025

The speech comes as the Trump administration and Harvard continue to face off over campus antisemitism and the school’s ability to admit new foreign students. This week, the Trump administration announced that Harvard would lose close to all of its federal funding.

During the speech, Amanpour said that “we cannot surrender to any system that deems only power-approved speech or thought is allowed.”

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She added that “this is not the first time the press, the fourth estate, has come under such sustained threat from the executive branch,” citing the Nixon administration challenging TV licenses held by The Washington Post following Watergate.

Harvard Kennedy School graduation speaker and CNN journalist Christiane Amanpour:

“We cannot surrender to any system that deems only power-approved speech or thought is allowed.” pic.twitter.com/qXl8gx4XgA

— Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) May 28, 2025

Amanpour said Europe was willing to take in “those who are having their roles taken away,” a likely reference to either foreign students being stopped from attending Harvard or researchers that may lose their positions following a cut to federal funding to the private university.

“As you know, we over there in Europe are happy to lay out the welcome mat to all of those here who are having their roles taken away,” she said. “ We want your scientists, your researchers, your professionals.”

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She added that the diversity, smarts, energy, and determination of foreign students are needed.

Amanpour also took a shot at Trump’s program to resettle Afrikaner refugees from South Africa in the United States, stating that she thinks about the legacy of Nelson Mandela when she sees “Afrikaner minorities, who were the perpetrators of apartheid, being brought into this country as refugees.”

During her speech at Harvard, Christiane Amanpour took a shot at Trump’s Afrikaner program, stating that she thinks about the legacy of Nelson Mandela when she sees “Afrikaner minorities, who were the perpetrators of apartheid, being brought into this country as refugees.” pic.twitter.com/29IXoy5Ao7

— Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) May 28, 2025

Amanpour has a long history of anti-Trump controversies, including in November 2020 when she compared the Trump presidency to to the Nazi Kristallnacht pogrom of 1938. Amanpour later apologized following public outcry and condemnation from former Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister Omer Yankelevich.

In 2016, Amanpour said she was “shocked” that Americans who voted for Trump ignored “the vulgarity of language, the sexual predatory behavior, the deep misogyny, the bigoted and insulting views.” In 2023, she confronted former CNN CEO Chris Licht for hosting Trump for a townhall on the network, POLITICO reported.

Amanpour also challenged CNN’s leaders in 2024 over Israeli influence over the network’s coverage of the Israel-Hamas war that kicked off when the terror group massacred more than 1,000 Israeli civilians on October 7, 2023, Business Insider reported. CNN has faced severe criticism for its anti-Israel coverage since the war began.

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Between October 7, 2023, and November 17, 2023, Israel was accused of “genocide” or being “genocidal” 13 times on “Amanpour,” with Hamas only being accused of similar atrocities 3 times, according to Newsbusters. 

In May 2023, Amanpour faced backlash after referring to a terrorist attack that killed a mother and her two daughters as a “shootout” during an interview with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh. The victims — Lucy, Maia, and Rina Dee were shot by Hamas-linked terrorists while driving on a highway. Amanpour later apologized, saying she had “misspoke.” Rabbi Leo Dee, the husband and father of the victims, said he did not accept her apology, The Times of Israel reported.

A 2007 documentary by Amanpour titled “God’s Jewish Warriors” faced criticism from the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America for “equating the extremely rare cases of religiously-inspired violence on the part of Christians and Jews with radical Islam’s global, often state-supported, campaigns of mass killing.”

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Amanpour has had a four-decade career in television journalism, beginning at CNN in 1983. She has reported on international conflicts throughout her career and currently hosts “Amanpour,” CNN’s flagship global affairs interview program, and “The Amanpour Hour.”

“Anyone who follows world news recognizes her signature determination to cut through the noise and help her viewers better understand complex global events,” said Kennedy School Dean Jeremy Weinstein. “At this time of change and uncertainty, she is the perfect person to address the next generation of public servants as they graduate from Harvard Kennedy School.”

Amanpour, who was born in London to an Iranian father and British mother, was raised in Tehran before moving to the United States following the 1979 Iranian revolution.