Key Donald Trump Adviser Now Under Fire

The intense anger over Donald Trump’s policy statement that Muslim immigration to the U.S. should be temporarily halted is grabbing headlines all around the world, but now one of his key advisers is taking some heat closer to home.

Trump’s national co-chair, Sam Clovis, a former Republican candidate for U.S. Senate and State Treasurer in Iowa, is one of the candidate’s senior policy advisers. He’s also a tenured professor at Morningside College, a small liberal arts college in Sioux City, Iowa, that is affiliated with the United Methodist Church.

In a recent article in a British newspaper, Clovis defended Trump’s policy, saying, “Our view (is) there is nothing wrong with stepping back and taking a break. There’s nothing wrong with doing that historically.”

According to Morningside Provost William Deeds, that statement runs afoul of the college’s view on the issue.

“That’s a different perspective than I have heard him espouse before,” Deeds told Sioux City-based KCAU-TV on Wednesday. “He has always been very much a staunch supporter of the Constitution and very much in favor of religious freedom, so I was a little surprised and a little disappointed to be quite honest with you.”

Clovis, a former director of the Colonel “Bud” Day Center for civic engagement at Morningside, is on an unpaid leave of absence from the college due to his involvement in the Trump campaign. The college declined to comment on whether or not it will seek sanctions against Clovis, but it has said in the past it may review his involvement in the Trump campaign.

“We value academic freedom very highly at Morningside College. As a tenured professor whose field is public administration, he is entitled to his opinion on a number of issues,” Deeds told KCAU-TV. “Having said that, the views being expressed are entirely inconsistent with the views of Morningside College.”