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Pelosi says Trump 'messing with' children's health on school reopenings

Published 07/12/2020, 10:37 AM
Updated 07/12/2020, 03:01 PM
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Education Secretary Devos attends signing ceremony at the White House in Washington

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Education Secretary Devos attends signing ceremony at the White House in Washington

By Doina Chiacu

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi accused President Donald Trump of "messing with" children's health on Sunday and said federal guidelines on reopening schools amid the coronavirus outbreak should be mandatory.

The Democratic House of Representatives leader sharply criticized the Trump administration for advocating a return to school in the fall as coronavirus infections surge across the country, particularly in states that reopened their economies earliest during the pandemic.

The federal government can make the Centers for Disease Control guidelines for reopening schools mandatory, like some state governors have done with anti-coronavirus measures, she said. Critics of the Trump administration's pandemic response have long called for a national strategy on mitigation efforts.

"Going back to school presents the biggest risk for the spread of the coronavirus," Pelosi said on CNN's "State of the Union" program. "If there are CDC guidelines, they should be requirements."

"They should be mandates."

Trump last week attacked the CDC, the federal government's health protection agency, for school reopening guidelines that he said were too tough, expensive and impractical.

"The president and his administration are messing with the health of our children," Pelosi said. "We all want our children to go back to school, parents do and children do. But they must go back safely."

On Sunday, the Republican president's education secretary, Betsy DeVos, repeatedly refused to say if states and school districts should follow the CDC guidelines.

In an interview with CNN, DeVos said children get the virus at a far lower rate than adults and downplayed the risk of children bringing the virus home to teachers, parents, grandparents or caregivers.

She also failed to put forth any other blueprint for safe school reopenings, saying there was no single solution.

"We know that schools across the country look very different and that there's not going to be a one-size-fits-all approach to everything," she told "Fox News Sunday."

Her comments drew an immediate rebuke from Pelosi, who said the Trump administration's approach to school reopenings was dangerous.

"What we heard from the secretary was malfeasance and dereliction of duty," Pelosi said on CNN.

Facing a battered economy as he seeks re-election in November, Trump has pressured states to reopen shuttered businesses and schools.

Since many states relaxed coronavirus restrictions, the virus has found a new toehold. So far in July, 24 states have reported record increases in cases of COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus, according to a Reuters tally.

CDC recommendations for schools include testing for COVID-19, dividing students into small groups, serving packaged lunches in classrooms instead of cafeterias, and minimizing sharing of school supplies. It has advised that seats be spaced at least six feet apart and that sneeze guards and partitions be put in place when social distancing is not possible.

DeVos last week criticized Fairfax County schools for offering virtual learning with an option of two days a week in-person schooling for the fall.

Schools superintendent Scott Brabrand said it was impossible for the district to get all 188,000 kids back in the classroom while honoring the six-foot distancing guideline.

"We're the size of five Pentagons. You would need another five Pentagons of space to be able to safely accommodate all of the students in Fairfax County Public Schools," he told CNN.

A number of Republican governors have made clear they will go their own way on coronavirus measures, including whether to reopen schools.

© Reuters. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi holds her weekly news conference with Capitol Hill reporters  in Washington

"We are not going to be rushed into this," Maryland's Republican governor, Larry Hogan, said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

Latest comments

A ****ten times over she is
scared little liberals
pelosi needs to explain why she has been seen with Mexican drug cartel leaders,,z by!
Trump Jr 2024
Trump 2020
So healthy to breath your own carbon dioxide.
trumps agenda is harm Americans thru every means possible.
99.74%+ of the worlds population will be just fine with Covid. Don't believe the fear. the flu is worse and we have a vaccine for the flu lol
Florida is fine. if you don't live here and do not Doctors / med staff.personally, you would think it's crazy due to the media
Wrong! Florida is not fine. its a cesspool of trumps doing.
more trump winning, 70k new infection in one day - He has absolutely MAGA - Florida Hospitals about to run out of beds and he's out golfing again - the good news is thats likely better for american than him and Pences having it all under control! Pelosi is such a nasty nasty woman - criticizing Trump!
What a joke. Won't matter much longer, her and her families insider trading that's being investigated at this very moment. She will be ousted soon enough, corrupt witch
Even if they make it mandatory to open, I will keep my kids home.
Most rep. well keep theres home. also
nobody cares, COVID-1984 game over. misleading and false information about initial death rates to fearmonger exposed. keep spamming this site with headlines showing how many asymptomatic immune people there are.
Over 60+% of the Earth's population is immune, that is right
The rest have the immunoglobulins to fight it naturally. It's now estimated that only 5-10% of the population is susceptible and that is virus will have less than a .2% death rate overall.
The masses keep voting for the wrong prez. A prez that is a representative of lack of education is not a prez the under-educated masses should vote for. Only education will help Americans see the light. China population is out-producing USA, out-educating themselves, out-winning the race for dominance in the world. America is acting like a loser. potus is a big time loser who's hiding his trail of failure. Don't fall for it a 2nd time America! Everyone knows that the F grade ain't get you anywhere. There is no way to maga with a prez who hired exam writers to get a pass in college. _ Wake up Americans!
You are absolutely horrible misrepresenting information the way you did here. But let me clear this up. Before the purposely fear mongered virus, US was #1 in all economic stats for the first time in over 20 YEARS! The market is still higher than the Obama era high and thats after a self destructive economic shutdown. And blaming Trump and Republicans for the failures in schooling is ignorant, especially considering our worst performing schools are in states that Dems "lead" or have "led" for decades. Take your misinformation somewhere else
Yes, push everyone to die. The America only need the top 1% richest to live.
Ignorant statement. Considering the top 1% need our business to remain in the top 1%. And they are only in the top 1% because people like you have no clue what you are talking about and inevitably support them through your own ignorance. Examples of your 1%ers. Bezos, The WalMarts(don't remember their name, don't care to) George Soros, Bill Gates, your beloved politicians. Think the Dems are so great? Remember Hillary held a closed door meeting with Goldman Sachs and every major Pharma rep for a 100k plate dinner and no press. You know the same Pharma that have recently gouged medicinal prices? Ignorance is curable, and it's cure is knowledge
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