Disgraced Former Harvard President Larry Summers told his economics class he was “stepping back from public activities” Tuesday, while vowing to continue to regale students with his ”important” instruction after it was revealed he communicated extensively with Jeffrey Epstein.
“Some of you will have seen my statement of regret expressing my shame with respect to what I did in communication with Mr. Epstein, and that I said I’m going to step back from public activities for a time,” he told the packed lecture hall.
“But I think it’s very important to fulfill my teaching obligations. And so, with your permission, We’re gonna go forward and talk about the material in class,” he said before launching into a lecture entitled “The G20: Multilateralism and its Future.”
However, he gave no indication he would be stepping down from his long-held professor role, despite mounting pressure on the university to cut ties with Summers, including from Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
The entire humiliating episode was captured on video by student Rosie Couture, who posted the wince-inducing admission on TikTok.
Summers — who helmed the elite university between 2001 and 2006 and has been a tenured economics professor there since 1983 — was found to have corresponded with the disgraced financier via email in 2017, 2018 and 2019.
In the communications released as part of a massive 23,000-document dump put out by the GOP-led House Oversight Committee, Summers, 70, sought advice on how to navigate a budding fling with a woman who seemingly did not return his affections, at one point self-pityingly referring to himself as a “friend without benefits.” Summers was married at the time to his second wife, and still is.
Couture captioned her TikTok post featuring the video, “POV your Harvard prof opens class by recognizing he’s in the Epstein files” with two vomiting emoji.
“And in the emails released, he was asking Epstein for advice on a young woman he was coercing….. just gross,” she wrote.
