Thread by @tomselliott

Thread: Dems who fought to keep schools closed

1) AFT's @rweingarten, July 28, 2021, refusing to commit to re-opening schools

@rweingarten 2) Biden's @WHCommsDir Kate Bedingfield, Feb. 9, 2021, refusing to commit to re-opening schools: Biden's "listening to the science"

@rweingarten @WHCommsDir 3) MSNBC's @chucktodd, Feb. 5, 2021: "It is not clear to me where the president’s position is on reopening schools"

@rweingarten @WHCommsDir @chucktodd 4) @SpeakerPelosi, Feb. 19, 2021, says schools may not open after vaccinations "if there is high enough incidence of Covid"

@rweingarten @WHCommsDir @chucktodd @SpeakerPelosi 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"

@rweingarten @WHCommsDir @chucktodd @SpeakerPelosi @jrpsaki 6) WH's then Covid adviser @ASlavitt defends the slow pace of school re-openings: "If it were easy, it would have been done by now"

@rweingarten @WHCommsDir @chucktodd @SpeakerPelosi @jrpsaki @ASlavitt 7) Dr. Anthony Fauci, Feb. 21, 2021: "Very difficult" to say if schools are being too slow re-opening

8) Fauci, March 4, 2021, defending schools remaining closed: "We’ve got to make sure that schools have the resources to do the kinds of things they need to do, which would be making sure they have masks and PPE, making sure that ventilation system can be improved"

9) United Teachers Los Angeles President Cecily Myart-Cruz, March 1, 2021, said Newsom's plan to re-open schools would worsen "structural racism"

10) Jill Biden, April 30, 2021, says it's too early to call on teachers to return to the classroom in 2021-2022

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

12) Biden education secretary @SecCardona, May 4, 2021, defends teachers unions refusing to reopen schools: "Reopening schools in the middle of a pandemic is not as easy as some may think."

@SecCardona 13) Biden's education secretary @SecCardona, May 5, 2021, refuses to say it was a mistake to keep schools closed: "It’s critically important that we’re listening to our health experts, because this is a health pandemic"

@SecCardona 14) Then Gov. @andrewcuomo, Nov. 13, 2020, admits Covid doesn't spread in schools but says he's closing them anyway

@SecCardona @andrewcuomo 15) @BillDeBlasio, Nov. 18, 2020, announces he's closing NYC schools again: "No one is happy about this decision, we all, in fact, are feeling very sad about this decision"

@SecCardona @andrewcuomo @BilldeBlasio 16) AFT's @rweingarten, September 13, 2020: It's "super, super hard" re-opening schools in places led by "Covid deniers"

@SecCardona @andrewcuomo @BilldeBlasio @rweingarten 17) MSNBC's @VinGuptaMD, October 29, 2020, advocates for locking down schools and restaurants: "certain parts of society that are currently open will likely have to close down"

@SecCardona @andrewcuomo @BilldeBlasio @rweingarten @VinGuptaMD 18) @BetoORourke, August 7, 2020: "By all means, do not reopen schools"

@SecCardona @andrewcuomo @BilldeBlasio @rweingarten @VinGuptaMD @BetoORourke 19) Rep. @AyannaPressley, July 19, 2020: ‘We should not rush to re-open schools"

@SecCardona @andrewcuomo @BilldeBlasio @rweingarten @VinGuptaMD @BetoORourke @AyannaPressley 20) Columbus, Ohio @MayorGinther, July 29, 2020: City schools will be "all virtual for the first grading period of this coming school year"

@SecCardona @andrewcuomo @BilldeBlasio @rweingarten @VinGuptaMD @BetoORourke @AyannaPressley @MayorGinther 21) Orange County, Fla.'s @OCFLMayor, July 27, 2020 opposes Gov. DeSantis plan to re-open schools: "I'm not sure that's necessarily safe"

@SecCardona @andrewcuomo @BilldeBlasio @rweingarten @VinGuptaMD @BetoORourke @AyannaPressley @MayorGinther @OCFLMayor 22) @SpeakerPelosi, July 13, 2020: "The biggest risk to the spread of the pandemic is opening up the schools ..."

@SecCardona @andrewcuomo @BilldeBlasio @rweingarten @VinGuptaMD @BetoORourke @AyannaPressley @MayorGinther @OCFLMayor @SpeakerPelosi 23) Then-Gov. @andrewcuomo, July 8, 2020, opposing Trump's call to re-open schools: "The president does not have the authority to open schools"

@SecCardona @andrewcuomo @BilldeBlasio @rweingarten @VinGuptaMD @BetoORourke @AyannaPressley @MayorGinther @OCFLMayor @SpeakerPelosi 24) Gov. @GavinNewsom, May 17, 2020, says his keeping schools closed is based on "science": "It’s all predicated on data, on science, on not just observed evidence. The reality on the ground."

@SecCardona @andrewcuomo @BilldeBlasio @rweingarten @VinGuptaMD @BetoORourke @AyannaPressley @MayorGinther @OCFLMayor @SpeakerPelosi @GavinNewsom 25) Atlanta Mayor @KeishaBottoms, August 4, 2020: Keeping schools closed "is the right choice for Atlanta public schools because we have some of the highest rates in the state right now."

@SecCardona @andrewcuomo @BilldeBlasio @rweingarten @VinGuptaMD @BetoORourke @AyannaPressley @MayorGinther @OCFLMayor @SpeakerPelosi @GavinNewsom @KeishaBottoms 26) Then-WH press spox @jrpsaki, Feb. 17, 2021, says "I'm not going to set new goals" on opening schools, downplays impact closures have on kids

@SecCardona @andrewcuomo @BilldeBlasio @rweingarten @VinGuptaMD @BetoORourke @AyannaPressley @MayorGinther @OCFLMayor @SpeakerPelosi @GavinNewsom @KeishaBottoms @jrpsaki 27) Dr. Fauci, May 12, 2020, opposing re-opening schools: "We don't know everything about this virus, and we really ought to be very careful, particularly when it comes to children."