This week the White House reinstated its daily coronavirus briefings, which were previously touted as a way to disseminate important information pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic. But after taking a hiatus in April following Trump’s off-the-cuff suggestion that people be injected with bleach as a means of eliminating the virus, the briefings are back, this time with the absence of the experts.
“They’re briefing me. I’m meeting them. I just spoke to Dr. Fauci, Dr. Birx is right outside and they’re giving me all of everything they know as of this point in time, and I’m giving the information to you,” Trump said at the briefing on Wednesday. “I think it’s probably a very concise way of doing it. It seems to be working out very well.”
Except that it’s not working out well. The revamped structure of the briefings have Trump reading from a prompter and then answering health-related questions without expert input or facts. On Wednesday, he reiterated statements he had previously made about Mexican migrants bringing “tremendous infectious disease” into the United States and also blamed Black Lives Matter protests for the surge on coronavirus cases across the United States. Neither has proven to be contributing factors to the rise.
As the 2020–2021 school year looms, concerns from parents and school districts about sending children back into the classroom also weighs heavily on the mind. With no scientific reasoning to back it up, Trump told reporters that all of America’s schoolchildren will be able to go back to their respective classrooms this fall. He also added that caretakers of children with strong immune systems are not at risk of the virus coming home to them.
Trump’s assertion is likely backed by his own desire to see schools reopen as a push to return the country back to its state pre-coronavirus. According to the Washington Post, he also sees it as a path to victory, which is why schools are now his top priority. Time will tell if his plan leads to his intended outcome or has a disastrous effect.