Monday on “Andrea Mitchell Reports,” Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) said President Donald Trump’s push to tie federal aid to the reopening of schools is akin to “blackmail” that could end up causing more deaths from the coronavirus pandemic.
Lee said, “I think the executive actions, first of all, are smoke in mirrors. Come on. There’s no funding in the executive actions, first of all. Secondly, how in the world do you take away from someone’s unemployment compensation $800 a month? People are living on the edge. So Democrats, yes, over two months ago put forth the HEROES Act, ensuring their lives and livelihood. This is a pandemic of enormous proportions, and we put in resources for contact tracing for testing and for care and for referrals isolation if necessary. We put in language with regard to a national plan and a national strategy. You see, that still has not happened.”
She added, “Also the president is, in terms of his bullying the school districts, is actually tied to blackmail school districts and forcing them to physically open, even if the health protocols or the virus is such the health officials do not believe they should be opened. So he is deciding to penalize students that won’t do this. So for the safety of our teachers and workers, all the workers at our schools and our students are in jeopardy. He cannot keep doing this. That is one thing he does not want to happen. He wants the money to be fenced in for those schools who physically are opening, and that’s dangerous, and it’s not healthy, and it could be deadly.”
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