Biden: Republican governors’ actions to oppose school masks are “a little spurious”

“And I find it interesting that some of the very people who say that, who are in government positions, are people who threaten that if a teacher asks a student if they’ve been vaccinated, or if a principal says’ everyone. people in my school should wear a mask ‘or the school board votes for it, this governor will override that – this governor has the power to say,’ You can’t do that, ‘”the president said.

“I find this totally counterintuitive and, quite frankly, misleading,” he added.

Biden said he was “very concerned” about the tendency of schoolchildren to test positive, adding that most of the infected children live in states with low vaccination rates. “So my plea is that for those who are not vaccinated, think about it,” he said.

Tensions have recently escalated between the Biden administration and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who has threatened to withhold funds from the state’s school districts if they needed masks. The president had previously told DeSantis to “pull away” from efforts to curb the spread of the Delta variant, while the governor said he was intentionally blocking what he called “lockdown policies” like the mandatory masking.

The back-to-school shock over masks comes as many students across the country walk into class, with various local and state guidelines on masking. Children under 12 remain ineligible for the Covid-19 vaccine.

When asked if he has the authority to intervene in states like Texas and Florida over masking issues, Biden said Tuesday: “I don’t think I think so,” adding that “we let’s check that “.