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Trump Demands That Schools Be ‘Opened ASAP’ After Watching Fox News Segment

Posted By Megan Hamilton On In Politics - News Analysis | No Comments

With the coronavirus still looming, recent polls reveal that most Americans don’t think it’s safe to send their kids back to school.

But that’s not preventing Donald Trump from tweeting that schools should be opened “ASAP.”

Trump shared the tweet Sunday night, writing: “Schools in our country should be opened ASAP. Much very good information now available.” Then he cited British political adviser and commentator Steve Hilton and Fox News in his twee, Newsweek [1] reports.

Trump was apparently taking his cues from Hilton due to comments he made on a Fox News panel that was debating whether it was safe for schools to open. During the debate, Hilton said “there won’t be a recovery” in the U.S. “unless we open schools now.”

“If children can’t go to school, parents can’t go to work,” Hilton, the former director of strategy under former British Prime Minister David Cameron added.

“We’re told schools must be closed to keep kids safe. But they’re not in danger. According to [the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] data, children under 18 make up only two percent of cases and 0.67 percent of hospitalizations. Children under 14 make up just 0.02 percent of deaths.”

So in other words, he’s suggesting parents use their kids as guinea pigs in a game of chance and he accuses the “media misinformation machine” of “fearmongering” for reporting on a “new mystery disease that affects children.”

Hilton is likely referring to Kawasaki Disease, which causes very high fevers and its cause is unknown. The disease primarily afflicts children under age five, the CDC reports. The agency has been studying “multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C)” and has found the syndrome “may be present with Kawasaki disease-like features” that inflame different parts of the body.

“We’re talking about a handful of cases, which are almost always treatable,” Hilton said. “How offensive to try and frighten parents about the safety of their children.”

He did acknowledge that people with chronic illnesses risk additional infection if children return to school as the pandemic continues, citing a study that found kids aren’t as likely as adults to transmit the virus to others. Those findings were released in April.

But polls show that most Americans aren’t on board with reopening schools early. Quinnipiac University polled 1323 registered voters between May 14 and 18 and 52 percent (mostly Democrats) said they felt it would be “unsafe to do so” as opposed to 40 percent (mostly Republicans) who said they thought it would be okay to do so.

But if you’re a parent or someone with a chronic illness, this is still a risky business whether or not Trump or Hilton believe otherwise. And if you’re capable of thinking critically, you already know Trump doesn’t care about you or your kids. He’s merely looking at the bottom line, which for him is always money.

Twitter had a field day, especially with Trump’s poorly written tweet: