President Donald Trump on Thursday rejected White House COVID-19 task force official Dr. Anthony Fauci’s assertion during a Senate hearing that schools could not be expected to reopen by fall.
“Anthony is a good person, very good person,” Trump told Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo. “I’ve disagreed with him. When I closed the border to China, he disagreed with that, and then ultimately he agreed.”
He argued that “we have to open our schools” because “young people are very little [sic] affected by this.”
“I totally disagree with [Fauci] on schools,” Trump said.
The remarks largely echo the President’s dissenting response to Fauci on Wednesday, saying that the doctor’s warning was “not an acceptable answer, especially when it comes to schools.”
During a hearing with the Senate Health Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Tuesday, Fauci told lawmakers that “the idea of having treatments available or a vaccine to facilitate re-entry of students into the fall term would be something that would be a bit of a bridge too far.”
“Even at the top speed we’re going,” he added.
Watch Trump below:
Trump: " I totally disagree" with Fauci on reopening schools. pic.twitter.com/vIj5HGKfLH
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) May 14, 2020
