“A lot of what the Trump administration is doing right now is going to have detrimental effects for our long-term future,” said Amanda Edwards, a Harvard alum and candidate for Texas’ Congressional 18th District.

It’s a rare moment in American politics when ultra-conservative personality Candace Owens and Democrats are on the opposing side of Donald Trump. The political firebrand publicly condemned the president’s crusade against Harvard University and other college campuses; Trump has threatened to rescind billions in federal grants if the institution did not agree to a list of demands that Harvard described as going “beyond the power of the federal government.”

As Owens put it, Trump’s battle with Harvard–which has escalated to a federal lawsuit filed by the very wealthy Ivy League–is a fight over free speech.

“We cannot allow our rights to be infringed upon. And if you think it’s going to stop with college campuses, you’re out of your mind,” said Owens, who has previously supported President Trump. “So you better buck up and root for Harvard University in this fight. You better hope that they defeat the Trump administration and this absurd definition.”

In their lawsuit, Harvard claims their First Amendment rights as a private institution are being violated by the Trump administration, which sought to coerce the university to comply with their demands on policies related to addressing antisemitism on the campus, as well as other policies and reforms like eliminating diversity, equity, and inclusion in hiring, scholarships, and curriculums.

Amanda Edwards, an attorney who attended Harvard Law School, told theGrio that “overreach has been a central theme” to President Trump’s approach across the spectrum.”

First Amendment violations aside, Edwards, a Democrat running for Congress in Texas’ 18th Congressional District, said she is particularly disturbed by the Trump White House’s attempt to strip Harvard of federal funding that is being used for research to drive innovation in medicine and technology.

“When we play politics with these institutions, we are preventing ourselves from reaching our full potential in terms of our community. Why would we want to stifle the research that could save lives?” Edwards told theGrio. “A lot of what the Trump administration is doing right now is going to have detrimental effects for our long-term future.”

The former Houston City Council member said the administration’s targeting of Harvard and other college campuses is “counterproductive” and “irresponsible.”

Everton Blair, a graduate of Harvard University and Harvard Graduate School of Education and who is also running for Congress in Georgia’s 13th Congressional District, said he’s “glad” the institution is “standing up for themselves.”

He told theGrio, “We can’t operate like that. That’s not the America that I think we all want to live in. So I’m glad that we’re sticking up to Trump’s crazy in that sense.”

However, Blair said he has been and continues to be critical of his alma mater, as he has taken issue with how they handled campus tensions over the war in Gaza and other matters–even when he was a student.

“It’s kind of interesting that only because it compromises their ability to be an independently-run institution that they invoked this resistance,” said Blair, a former board chair of the Gwinnett County Board of Education. “They have shown me time and time again that they have very singular monetary interests.”

Blair noted that Harvard, which has a more than $50 billion endowment, is in a “privileged position” to be able to “fully operate, even if it loses billions of dollars,” unlike other campuses. He said it shows that “we’re not all just being extorted and pressured into doing things that are bad for people, bad for students [and] bad for communities.”

Edwards said that the Trump administration’s First Amendment attacks on Harvard “cannot be normalized.”

“These are dangerous practices that are not going to put us in a position to thrive. It has to be about more than retribution and political punishment. What happens in our academic institutions affects how bright tomorrow can be,” said the Texas congressional candidate.

In the long term, targeting American universities and colleges will affect the country’s “standing in the world,” said Edwards, including “what we produce, the talent that’s available, and the information that we have access to.”

She added, “The precedent that’s being established with the Trump administration’s attack on higher ed and and other institutions that have been very meaningful and valuable in our society…it’s something that we’ve got to fight back against because our future depends on it.”