"Harvard Degree Is a Scarlet Letter to Me" US Presidential Candidates Rush to Criticize Their Alma Mater

DeSantis and Other Republican Candidates Criticize Ivy League
"Voters Want to Hear It," Targeting Public Sentiment

Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida campaigning in New Hampshire, USA
Photo by Yonhap News

Republican presidential candidates in the United States have started criticizing Ivy League universities to win over public voters. This is interpreted as a response to the growing proportion of voters without a college degree within the Republican Party.

On the 18th (local time), The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that Ron DeSantis, the Governor of Florida who is chasing former President Donald Trump, the frontrunner in the Republican presidential primary, has recently been making negative remarks about his alma maters, Yale University and Harvard University.

In his recently published autobiography, he stated, "The seven years I spent at Yale and Harvard were a time when I barely endured the 'brainwashing education' of the universities." He went on to say that at college, "I learned hostility toward American great figures and contempt for America," and described earning degrees from the two universities as "a scarlet letter for me."

Vivek Ramaswamy, a businessman who is maintaining a tie for second place with Governor DeSantis, is also employing the same strategy. He criticized his two alma maters by saying, "They were once special institutions, but now they follow self-destructive practices."

Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, candidates attending the U.S. Republican presidential debate [Image source=Yonhap News]

In fact, until securing their current positions, they were evaluated as having greatly benefited from boasting about their prestigious university backgrounds. Harvard and Yale are famously known for producing numerous Republican presidents.

However, as the proportion of Republican voters without a college degree continues to grow, they have distanced themselves from their alma maters and even started criticizing them to align with the current situation. They judged that criticizing Ivy League universities would be advantageous in the election. Jim Lo, a political strategist from Harvard, analyzed the Republican candidates showing such behavior by saying, "They know they are talking nonsense, but they also know that many voters want to hear it."

Meanwhile, former President Trump, the frontrunner in the Republican presidential primary, still emphasizes, "I attended an Ivy League university," highlighting his degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.