Corey Lewandowski Is Coming to Harvard

photo via AP

Corey Lewandowski, the former Trump campaign manager and current reliably pro-Trump talking head, will be spending a semester at Harvard.

The political operative and Lowell native, who among other things infamously grabbed the arm of a female journalist on the campaign trail in 2016, will be among a handful of Visiting Fellows at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics this fall.

The announcement from Harvard highlights Lewandowski’s tenure managing the Trump campaign (Trump fired him in June of 2016), his work as CEO of a lobbying firm, his regular Trump-boosting TV appearances, and the frequent presence of his commentary in news articles. Lewandowski faced a battery charge for yanking Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields by the arm during a campaign stop in Florida. He initially denied the incident happened and called the reporter “delusional,” then refused to apologize despite video evidence. Florida authorities later decided against pursuing the battery charge.

Lewandowski’s many contributions to political discourse include speculation about Barack Obama’s birthplace, as part of the discredited so-called birther movement championed by candidate Trump. Lewandowski has raised questions about Obama’s transcript at Harvard, suggesting Obama might be concealing those records to further hide the fact that the first black president was, as birthers believe, born in Kenya. “The question was, did he get in as a U.S. citizen or was he brought into Harvard University as a citizen who wasn’t from this country?” the future Harvard fellow said at the time. “I don’t know the answer.”

The other Harvard fellows announced this week are former NAACP President and CEO Cornell William Brooks, former Kentucky Gov. Steven L. Beshear, media consultant and Joe Biden adviser Joe Slade White, and conservative authors Mary Katharine Ham and Guy Benson. Joining them will be TV news pair Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, who Harvard announced would be fellows earlier this year, and recent ex-Congressman Jason Chaffetz, of Utah.

“This diverse group of policymakers, journalists, political advisors and activists provides a robust platform for dynamic interaction with our students and the larger Harvard community,” Bill Delahunt, acting director of the IOP, says in a statement. “They represent a wide range of viewpoints, insights and perspectives on the most pressing challenges facing local, state and national leaders and society as a whole – from race and politics to the devastating opioid crisis affecting communities throughout America. They will stimulate discussion in the Institute of Politics’ tradition of encouraging civil discourse and respectful exchange of ideas.”