As Bonchie reported earlier, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ approval ratings are on the rise in Florida, and an interview he gave Sunday on Mark Levin’s “Life, Liberty, and Levin” program gave some possible clues as to why he’s favored for reelection in 2022 despite all the naysayers.
During the segment, both Levin and DeSantis did a compare and contrast between DeSantis’ handling of the Wuhan virus outbreak in his state over the last year versus how Democratic governors have managed their states. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo got deservedly nuked a number of times without so much as his name being mentioned one time.
In addition to pointing out how Florida had made a smart decision with their policy to not allow COVID-positive patients back into nursing homes (unlike Cuomo), DeSantis also took particular aim at the Biden administration for what he called their “pathetic leadership” on school reopenings, which has become a hot topic of conversation – particularly in states where stringent lockdown measures are still in place.
Biden’s insistence – as well as that of Democratic governors like California Gov. Gavin Newsom – on putting teachers’ unions over students on reopenings was doing a disservice to kids, especially those in low income/middle class communities, DeSantis told Levin:
During an interview airing Sunday with Mark Levin on Fox News, the Governor said the evidence is clear that in-person education hasn’t caused COVID-19 outbreaks. Democrats, including Biden, are listening more to teachers’ unions than the science, DeSantis leveled.
“This is just purely being subservient to a special interest, and Biden has been one of the worst in it, because when he says, ‘My goal is to get 50% of the schools in person in 100 days,’ we’ve already had that,” DeSantis said. “His goal should have been yesterday to get everybody back in school, but he can’t do that because he doesn’t want to upset the teachers’ union.”
[…]
School closures have disproportionately affected students from low-income, blue-collar and middle-class families, the Governor said.
“The wealthy sons and daughters of, say, elected officials and other powerful people, they’re sending their kids in person in private schools, but they’re not affording that right to the folks who need to go to the public school system,” he added.
Watch:
.@GovRonDeSantis doesn't hold back in his criticisms of Joe Biden for siding with unions over getting kids back in school. pic.twitter.com/A94H5x74NE
— MRCTV (@mrctv) March 2, 2021
Not too long ago when Trump was president, any suggestion that schools be reopened was met with predictable “why do you want to sacrifice children and teachers?” accusations from the Usual Suspects on the left. But you’re not hearing much of that anymore, because it’s now Biden making promises to reopen schools.
Instead, we’re getting dodges and weaves and yada yadaing from the administration about how schools need millions in federal dollars to be able to implement safety measures that could help prevent outbreaks. But when even CNN is acknowledging that “there’s mounting evidence that Covid transmission in schools is low, even when there’s a high rate of infection in the community”, you know such excuses from the Biden team don’t add up.
DeSantis is right. The stranglehold teachers’ unions have on Biden and Democratic governors is very real. As a result, the Democrats’ failure of leadership on this issue is having a devastating impact on kids across the country, outside of those who – as DeSantis noted – have the political privilege of being the child of a lawmaker who can afford to send them to private schools or hire private tutors.
If Democrats don’t get their act together on this and start standing up to the teachers’ unions (highly unlikely), look for their poll numbers to fall, because this has become so contentious that even rank and file Joe and Jane Democrats are getting fed up with the mixed messages. As well they should.
Related: Ron DeSantis’ Mask Smackdown Triggers CNN’s Chris Cillizza to Go Full Karen in Fizzling Hot Take
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