House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is among the many Americans who have had enough of the Trump administration’s incompetence. Amidst the Coronavirus pandemic, which is spreading at staggeringly high levels in some areas of the country, the Trump administration has failed to implement any kind of plan to successfully thwart the spread of the virus — but, they want schools to reopen at as high of a rate as possible anyway, no matter the potential dangers. During an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union this weekend, Pelosi harshly criticized the Trump administration for their willingness to put kids and those around them in danger.
During her comments, which came shortly after Education Secretary Betsy DeVos appeared on CNN, Pelosi also had harsh words for the Education Secretary. She told host Dana Bash:
‘I think what we heard from the secretary was malfeasance and dereliction of duty. This is appalling. The president and his administration are messing with the health of our children. We all want our children to go back to school — teachers do, parents do, and children do, but they must go back safely, and when you hear what the administration is saying, we know that they have no appreciation for the failure that has brought us to this point. Going back to school presents the biggest risk for the spread of the Coronavirus. They ignore science and they ignore governance in order to make this happen.’
Pelosi also insisted that guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that outline safe practices for going back to school should be “requirements.” Watch her comments below:
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the Trump administration's push to restart in-person learning in schools is "messing with the health of our children" and that "going back to school presents the biggest risk for the spread of the coronavirus.” #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/qsAECfIGGc
— State of the Union (@CNNSotu) July 12, 2020
Trump has taken the exact opposite approach. Recently, he even wheeled out the conspiracy theory that Democrats want schools to remain closed for “political reasons,” because, supposedly, they think that school closures might be helpful for them politically. There’s zero evidence for that conspiracy theory. Trump just sees villains everywhere.
Recently, he tweeted:
‘Corrupt Joe Biden and the Democrats don’t want to open schools in the Fall for political reasons, not for health reasons! They think it will help them in November. Wrong, the people get it!… SCHOOLS MUST OPEN IN THE FALL!!!’
Corrupt Joe Biden and the Democrats don’t want to open schools in the Fall for political reasons, not for health reasons! They think it will help them in November. Wrong, the people get it!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 6, 2020
SCHOOLS MUST OPEN IN THE FALL!!!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 6, 2020
Again — there is zero evidence for that claim of political motivations behind keeping schools closed. A couple of days after the above tweets, he added:
‘I disagree with @CDCgov on their very tough & expensive guidelines for opening schools. While they want them open, they are asking schools to do very impractical things. I will be meeting with them!!!’
I disagree with @CDCgov on their very tough & expensive guidelines for opening schools. While they want them open, they are asking schools to do very impractical things. I will be meeting with them!!!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 8, 2020
Despite this presidential opposition, the CDC apparently does not plan to release new school re-opening guidelines. Trump and his administration — as Pelosi notes — have ignored science at every turn, and Americans have paid the price. The United States has suffered over 137,000 Coronavirus deaths, according to one tally, and the rate of deaths is slowly climbing back up. According to that same tally, last Tuesday, the U.S. reported a full 993 deaths. These fatalities have accompanied big rises in the rates of new cases around the country.
