Trump publicly voiced disagreement with recommendations for reopening schools issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
President Trump and senior administration officials made a concerted effort Wednesday to downplay recommendations of their own health experts as they ramped up pressure on states to reopen their schools, characterizing the move as key to the nation’s recovery.
“It’s absolutely essential that we get our kids back into classroom for in-person learning,” Vice President Pence said at the outset of a White House coronavirus task force briefing at which a parade of other officials argued that the health risks to children were outweighed by the downsides of keeping them at home, including stunted academic growth.
The briefing — the first in two weeks by the group tasked with guiding the administration’s response to the pandemic — came about two hours after Trump publicly voiced disagreement with recommendations for reopening schools issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In morning tweets, Trump called the guidelines “very tough & expensive” as he continued to pressure local school districts to open in the fall, even as many states are facing a surge in coronavirus cases.
“While they want them open, they are asking schools to do very impractical things,” Trump said of CDC officials. “ I will be meeting with them!!!”
At the task force briefing, CDC Director Robert R. Redfield was among the administration officials who stressed that the guidelines were not mandatory and not meant to supplant the judgment of state and local officials.
“Our recommendations are not requirements, and they’re not meant to be prescriptive,” Redfield said.
