Hard-left American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten was forced to defend herself during a live debate on CNN Thursday for her long-held position of pushing to keep schools on lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic.
What’s more, she falsely blamed the former Trump administration for failing to provide guidance, when then-President Trump himself was an early supporter of pushing for schools to reopen once it became clear that children were at the least risk of becoming deathly ill with the virus.
CNN senior political commentator Scott Jennings ripped Weingarten during the debate, reminding her that she was one of the leading voices pushing for extended lockdowns, which have since been determined to have been extremely harmful for millions of school-aged children.
“Speaking on behalf of millions of American parents,” he began with a lengthy rebuke of her pro-lockdown stance.
“I had to teach them at home,” he added, referring to his four children. “My wife had to teach them at home. I am stunned at what you have said this week about your claiming to have wanted to reopen schools.”
On Wednesday, Weingarten’s testimony before the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic sparked outrage as she discussed her union’s involvement in shaping public policy regarding school lockdowns, Fox News reported.
Critics have singled out Weingarten and teachers unions for allegedly exerting pressure on schools to maintain closure during the pandemic. In 2021, Weingarten asserted that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ (R) approach to pandemic restrictions would result in “millions” of deaths, but she subsequently retracted that statement.
Jennings persisted in denouncing Weingarten’s language regarding COVID-related school closures, particularly throughout 2020.
“I think you’ll find that most parents believe you are the tip of the spear of school closures,” he said. “There are numerous statements you made over the summer of ’20 scaring people to death about the possibility of opening schools. And I hear no remorse whatsoever about the generational damage that’s been done to these kids.”
Jennings pointed out that his two children required additional support in their academic pursuits and therefore were particularly impacted by Weingarten’s preferred policies.
“I have two kids with learning differences. Do you know how hard it is for them to learn at home and not in a classroom that was designed for them? And for you to sit in front of Congress and the American people and say, oh, ‘I wanted to open up them the whole time,’” I am shocked. I’m stunned. I’m stunned,” Jennings repeated.
“And there are millions of parents who feel the exact same way,” he added.
Weingarten countered by claiming that she knew “the importance of reopening schools and the importance of making sure that people were safe.”
“Poll after poll that we did of parents — and I spent a lot of time with parents — said that they basically understood and supported that we needed to do both,” Weingarten said, though at the time, most major published polling found that parents wanted schools reopened sooner rather than later (here, here, and here).
In fact, the very union Weingarten leads found in May 2021 that 79 percent of parents polled by the union wanted in-person school to return, which completely undermines her claim.
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