Pushing too hard to reopen K-12 schools, universities and colleges, 74-year-old President Donald Trump and his 62-year-old Education Secretary Betsy DeVos find themselves on the wrong side of the reopening issue. Trump and DeVos practically stood on their heads trying to get schools and colleges to reopen, when, faculty, and the unions that represent them, not students, refused to go back to face-to-face, in-classroom instruction. Whatever one can say about the novel coronavirus AKA SARS CoV-2 or Covid-19 crisis, the public’s thoroughly brainwashed into believing that only social distancing is the only real way to avoid the virus. While face-coverings and hand-sanitizer have become trendy, only social distancing keep away the deadly coronavirus, something that’s frightened enough citizens from keeping their kids or young adults away from classroom instruction.
Trump thought it was good for the country to get back to some new normal, reopening businesses and urging schools and colleges to reopen at the earliest possible time. Yahoo/YouGov poll today found the 63% of respondents think it’s premature to allow students back in the classroom, something with which teachers’ unions find themselves in agreement. Returning to school has been a wedge issue separating Republicans from Democrats, with Republicans leaning toward reopening more that Democrats. Yahoo/YouGov’s polls found that 95% of Democrats, 72% of independents and 58% of Republicans think it’s a bad idea to reopen schools and colleges. Much like everything else, the coronavirus has become a wedge issue, with Democrats 100% backing 80-year-old National Institutes of Health Infectious Disease and Allergy chief Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Democrats and their friends in the media have tried to turn Fauci into a foil against Trump, getting him to admit to things to help 77-year-old former Vice President Joe Biden’s chances of election. Like the return-to-school issue, Democrats exploit Fauci to make Trump look like he’s not doing his job managing the coronavirus outbreak. With the U.S. the world epicenter of the disease, account for about 25% of all case and deaths, Democrats and the press use Fauci to attack Trump. Now they’re highlighting divisions with the White House on the appropriate time to return to classroom instruction. But even Republicans think it’s premature to put children in the classroom as long as cases are rising in states like California, Arizona, Texas and Florida, all with growing numbers of Covid-19 cases. It present trends hold, California could replace New York as the most cases in the country.
Most respondents in the Yahoo’YouGov polls don’t think school systems have the resources needed to make the classrooms safe, leaving children vulnerable to possible infections. Teacher unions aren’t comfortable with the current state of affairs exposing teachers to the virus, something that could have disastrous health consequences, especially for older teachers. When Trump blasts the CDC for having too strict guidelines for returning to classroom instruction, it alienates Republicans and independents. Democrats have already made up their mind about Trump. But the return-to-school issue doesn’t help Trump, since most people think it’s unsafe for students and teachers. Trump lost his bid to have Immigration Customs Enforcement [ICE] required students to have in-class instruction or get their visa yanked. That was one more issue that backfired on Trump.
Whatever the actual risks of getting Covid-19, it’s been so hyped the press most citizens are terrified, watching gruesome images of deathly ill patients on ventilators or worse, carried out to morgues. When Trump and DeVos tell parents to get their kids back in live classrooms, it brings up only ghastly thought of what could happen in the worse case scenario. If the government a media wish to see ordinary citizens get back to some normal routine they’re need to paint a much brighter picture. What’s depicted in the media today are only the most negative images, something not easy for Trump to get over. Whether Trump likes it or not, he’s being blamed by Democrats and the media for, by all accounts, an unavoidable infectious disease crisis. Suggesting the Democrats could have done a better job is wishful thinking. So far, Democrats have done a good job of painting Trump and bungling the crisis.
Getting the public comfortable enough to return back to a normal routine, including returning to schools or colleges won’t be easy. Given the way the coronavirus global pandemic has been politicized in an Election Year, it’s going to be difficult to change the narrative until after the election. Until then, Democrats and the press will continue to hammer Trump for coronavirus crisis and the adverse effect on the economy. With more ordinary citizens losing their jobs, the incumbent usually gets blamed, even where it’s not their fault. Trump finds himself fighting stiff headwinds especially with little light at the end of the economic tunnel. Using Dr. Anthony Fauci as a foil against Trump, the media has managed sell the public on Trump’s mismanagement. Unless there’s a substantial turnaround with the virus, it’s going to be difficult for Trump to change the narrative before Nov. 3.
