Politics

Dem Ad Comes Back To Bite The White House In The A** As They Try To Blame Trump For School Closures

A DNC ad blames Donald Trump for wanting to reopen schools [Twitter Screenshot Greg Price]

[Twitter Screenshot Greg Price]

Brianna Lyman News and Commentary Writer
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White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre appeared to claim Thursday former President Donald Trump is to blame for the school closure debacle during the pandemic, but a Democratic ad is coming to bite the White House’s messaging.

Jean-Pierre was asked about new data that found reading and math levels for 9-year-old students dropped several points in the last two years due to pandemic-related school closures. She was also asked about the Biden Administration’s plan, and whether the administration shoulders any blame for not pushing schools to re-open. (RELATED: Some ‘Underrepresented’ Students Don’t Have To Take Entrance Exam For Prestigious Med School)

The White House press secretary immediately pointed fingers at Republicans, arguing the pandemic was “mismanaged” and that schools have largely fully reopened under Biden. She also noted Republicans opposed the American Rescue Plan which, among other things, included money for schools.

“Every Republican in congress voted against that money. We had to do this on our own.”

“We were in a place where schools were not open, the economy was shut down, businesses were shut down, we’ve seen the numbers … it shows you how mismanaged the pandemic was and how the impact of the mismanagement had on kids … academic well being.”

Despite Jean-Pierre’s insistence that Democrats are the reason schools are open, they’re also the reason schools stayed closed, at least according to a 2020 ad. The DNC ran an ad in July of 2020 attacking Trump for trying to re-open schools.

“Desperate to reopen schools because he thinks it will save his reelection,” the ad says, along with a picture of one of Trump’s tweets that read “schools must open in the fall.”

The ad also played a clip of Trump threatening to revoke funds for schools that remained shut and alleged Trump was “risking teachers’ and parents’ lives.”

The ad then played a clip of Trump saying the virus had “very little impact on young people” before asking whether “you trust him to do what’s best for our children because this is not a test. Trump is failing.”

Studies from July of 2020 showed students were unlikely to transmit the coronavirus even if they returned to school, but a majority of schools still refused to open.

Teachers unions even released a list of demands that same month that included a call to cancel rent and evictions, place a moratorium on new charter or voucher programs, end standardized testing and provide more federal money to public school teachers paid for by a tax hike.

Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis was sued by a teachers union in December of 2020 after reopening schools. The union called the reopening “ignorance” that would cause “millions of Floridians to die.”