White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany fired back at media outlets after some reportedly took her comments about reopening schools amid the coronavirus pandemic out of context.
“Well, you talked about earlier, school districts overseeing — more school districts, in Virginia, for example, last night deciding to go online only,” one reporter asked McEnany during Thursday’s press conference. “What does the president say to the parents out there who are now going, ‘OK. What do I do with my kids?’”
“The president has said unmistakably that he wants schools to open,” McEnany responded. “I was just in the Oval talking to him about that, and when he says open, he means open and full, kids being able to attend each and every day at their school. The science should not stand in the way of this, and, as Dr. Scott Atlas said — I thought this was a good quote — ‘Of course, we can do it. Everyone else in the Western world, our peer nations, are doing it.'”
“We are the outlier here. The science is very clear on this, that, for instance, you’ve got the JAMA pediatric study of 46 pediatric hospitals in North America that said the risk of critical illness from COVID is far less for children than that of seasonal flu,” she continued. “The science is on our side here, and we encourage for localities and states to just simply follow the science. Open our schools. It’s very damaging to our children. There is a lack of reporting of abuse, there’s mental depressions that are not addressed, suicidal deviations that are not addressed when students are not in school. Our schools are extremely important. They’re essential, and they must reopen.”
A tweet from the Washington Post quoted McEnany only as saying: “The science should not stand in the way of this.” The video clip contained her full answer to the question.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany on school reopenings:
“The science should not stand in the way of this.” pic.twitter.com/w6H9DM0uTV
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) July 16, 2020
Similarly, CNN’s Jim Acosta tweeted McEnany’s remarks about opening schools, initially only including the part of McEnany’s quote in which she said, “The science should not stand in the way of this.”
Acosta, however, sent a second tweet moments later clarifying that the press secretary “went on to say ‘the science is on our side here.'”
McEnany went on to say “the science is on our side here.” https://t.co/IxRbVtESSF
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) July 16, 2020
McEnany, who has in the past criticized media outlets for their reporting on the coronavirus, called the Washington Post an example of a case study in media bias.
“I said: ‘The science is very clear on this…the science is on our side here. We encourage our localities & states to just simply follow the science. Open our schools,” she said. “But leave it to the media to deceptively suggest I was making the opposite point!”
Case Study in Media Bias:
I said: “The science is very clear on this…the science is on our side here. We encourage our localities & states to just simply follow the science. Open our schools.”
But leave it to the media to deceptively suggest I was making the opposite point! https://t.co/vlxk3zRsgh
— Kayleigh McEnany (@PressSec) July 16, 2020
President Trump has said students need to return to schools in the fall, despite some public health concerns, and pushed back on the guidelines set forth by the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention for reopening places of learning.
“We do want to get our schools open,” Trump said Wednesday in Atlanta. “There’s virtually no impact on children. They’re just stronger than we are, their immune system or whatever it may be, but we want the schools open.”
Several media commentators were quick to decry Trump’s push for a full reopening in the fall.
