Donald Trump Scolds Dr. Anthony Fauci: We ‘Absolutely’ Have to Open Our Schools

President Donald Trump listens as Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of
Patrick Semansky/AP Photo

President Donald Trump at the White House pushed back on Wednesday against warnings from Dr. Anthony Fauci about reopening schools in the fall, after the peak of the coronavirus pandemic.

“I think they should open the schools, absolutely,” Trump said. “It’s had very little effect on young people.”

During a Senate committee hearing on Wednesday, Fauci said that it was “a bit of a bridge too far” to expect that therapeutic treatments or vaccines would be widely available to treat students in August. He also warned about being “cavalier” about the risk of bringing children back to school.

“To me, it’s not an acceptable answer,” Trump said when asked about Fauci’s testimony.

While some universities have announced plans to reopen in the fall, California announced Tuesday their state university system would not welcome students back to campus in the fall.

Trump said that reopening schools was essential to get America back open for business again.

“I think that we have to open our schools. Young people are little affected by this. We have to get the schools open,” he said. “We have to open our country. We want to do it safely, but we also want to do it as quickly as possible.”

The president also told Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo that he disagreed with Fauci, but he believed he was a “very good person.”

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