Obama privately lobbied on Harvard President Claudine Gay’s behalf amid antisemitism controversy: Report

Former President Barack Obama went to bat for Harvard President Claudine Gay amid backlash she received following her testimony on antisemitism before Congress.

A confidential source familiar with the matter told Jewish Insider on Tuesday that Obama, a Harvard graduate, had privately lobbied on Gay's behalf following her congressional appearance about antisemitism and threats against Jewish students on the Ivy League campus.  

"It sounded like people were being asked to close ranks to keep the broader administration stable—including its composition," the source said of Obama's involvement.

In early December, Gay sat before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, where she was asked whether calling for the genocide of Jews on campus violates the university's codes of conduct related to bullying and harassment.

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Former President Barack Obama leaves after he delivered a speech while attending day nine of the COP26 at SECC on Nov. 8, 2021 in Glasgow, Scotland.  (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Her claim that the alleged conduct would only warrant a response from the school based on the "context" drew criticism across social media and even prompted a response from the White House.

Gay issued an apology after the hearing and the fellows of the Harvard Corporation, the university's highest government body, released a Dec. 12 statement backing the Harvard president despite widespread calls for her resignation. The board also addressed allegations of plagiarism regarding Gay's academic writing first flagged in October.

On Tuesday, Harvard's research integrity officer, Stacey Springs, reportedly received a complaint detailing more than 40 allegations of plagiarism — ranging from missing quotation marks around a few phrases or sentences to entire paragraphs lifted verbatim — regarding Gay's academic works, according to a document obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.

The Harvard Corporation also released a summary of a review Wednesday evening, saying Gay will request three corrections from Harvard's Office of the Provost regarding her 1997 Ph.D. dissertation, The Harvard Crimson reported.

Through additional review, Harvard said it found two additional instances of "duplicative language without appropriate attribution."

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Dr. Claudine Gay, President of Harvard University, testifies before the House Education and Workforce Committee at the Rayburn House Office Building on December 05, 2023 in Washington, DC.  (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

That same day, House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., sent a letter to Harvard Corporation Senior Fellow Penny Pritzker demanding more information about the university's handling of plagiarism allegations against Gay and "the unequal application of Harvard's Honor Code."

The controversy has put a spotlight on Pritzker, a former Obama administration official and Chicago hotel billionaire who donated $100 million to Harvard last month.

Last December, Pritzker personally led the search committee that named Gay president, calling her a "remarkable leader who is profoundly devoted to sustaining and enhancing Harvard's academic excellence" at the time.

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Before joining the Harvard Corporation's Dec. 12 statement along with 11 other board members, Pritzker dodged a flurry of questions from reporters from the school newspaper on whether she believed Gay should step down. Gay, at the time, claimed she had Pritzker's "full support."

"What I hear is [Pritzker] has no intention of going down with the ship," a Harvard source close to the issue told Jewish Insider.

It is unclear whether Pritzker, an outspoken critic of Jewish persecution, spoke with Obama about his support for Gay during the Harvard Corporation's deliberation of the school president's fate at the university.

Pritzker's office and Obama's press contacts did not return Fox News Digital's request for comment.