(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) In an official press conference, White House talking head Karine Jean-Pierre made the outrageous claim that Republicans were the force that kept schools from being reopened in the wake of pandemic lockdowns.
When questioned about the abysmal test results released by the National Assessment of Educational Progress, she praised President Joe Biden for leading a return to school.
“Not too long ago when this President walked into this administration: how mismanaged the pandemic — the response to the pandemic was; how 47 percent of schools were — in less than six months, our schools went from 40 per- — 46 percent to — open — to nearly all of them being open to full time,” she said.
She elaborated, claiming the victory for Democrats who voted for the American Rescue Plan.
“That was the work of this President. And that was the work of Democrats, in spite of Republicans not voting for the American Rescue Plan,” she explained of the program that has seen billions of dollars mismanaged through fraud and ignorance.
“Every Republican in Congress voted against that money. That is the reality. We had to do this on our own.”
According to The Daily Wire, the NAEP survey showed that average scores for nine year olds declined five points in reading and seven for mathematics.
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) September 1, 2022
Journalist Tom Elliot called out this statement by creating a lengthy Twitter thread with news segments of several prominent Democrats making strong statements against the reopening of schools.
The thread includes media pundits, politicians, and union officials. Among them is President Joe Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, then-Press secretary Jen Psaki, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, Head of NAIAD Dr Anthony Fauci, president of the American Federation of Teachers Randi Weingarten and many, many more.
22) @SpeakerPelosi, July 13, 2020: “The biggest risk to the spread of the pandemic is opening up the schools …” pic.twitter.com/ksp2L2k4F6
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) September 2, 2022
11) Biden, April 30, 2021, reverses his pledge of opening schools within the first 100 days and says they “should probably be open” the 2021-2022 school year pic.twitter.com/soOlxnNOCM
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) September 1, 2022
5) Press Sec @jrpsaki, Feb. 17, 2021: “Many schools will tell you, across the country, they were waiting for the CDC guidelines, they want to know how to do it safely, but they need the funding to hire more teachers” pic.twitter.com/yEJVrg7uAC
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) September 1, 2022
