White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre refused to let Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House’s Covid-19 coordinator, answer a reporter’s question about school openings in the fall.
“Doctor, do you believe all schools will and must be open this coming fall?” the reporter asked.
“We gotta go, you have to go, he has to go, we’re over time,” Jean-Pierre said as she gestured him away from the podium.
As Sen. Marsha Blackburn and others noted, it's hard to believe this issue is still up for debate after the evidence continues to come in showing how detrimental school closures were for kids academically, socially and emotionally.
Biden’s COVID coordinator refused to answer if all schools “will and must be open this fall.”
— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) June 3, 2022
It’s unbelievable we’re still having this conversation. Our schools should be open — period. pic.twitter.com/RoMSNW2Pz9
If there's ONE QUESTION you let the COVID Czar answer, it's that he think their kids should be at school in the Fall of 2022.
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) June 2, 2022
This White House is just so bad at messaging.
.@PressSec needs to run this by Randi Winegarten first. https://t.co/awmZMAU6V4
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) June 2, 2022
Whatever Dr. Jha had to do .. it wasn't as important as spending 30 secs addressing the critical issue that millions of American kids *will* be in school this fall.
— Brian Sullivan (@SullyCNBC) June 2, 2022
Parents - particularly in half the country where schools shut down for long periods of time - need to hear that https://t.co/jxYfPhYKBQ
This should have been an easy and resounding YES for the White House. https://t.co/QTVWNQYUfq
— House Ed & Labor Republicans (@EdLaborGOP) June 2, 2022