Ayanna Pressley Tweets At Betsy DeVos: ‘I Wouldn’t Trust You to Care For a House Plant Let Alone My Child’

Sarah RumpfJul 12th, 2020, 6:48 pm
 
ayanna pressley

KEREM YUCEL/AFP via Getty Images

Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) had harsh words for Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos‘s push to reopen schools this fall, tweeting that she wouldn’t trust DeVos to care for a house plant, let alone a child.

Schools across America closed earlier this year in the middle of the spring semester due to concerns about the coronavirus pandemic.

The switch to online learning was a challenge, especially for families who cannot afford reliable internet connections and updated computers, and concerns have been raised about the effects on children’s emotional and mental health to be isolated away from their friends and classmates for so long. But the push to reopen schools as Covid-19 cases are surging in multiple states — including several where the school calendar year begins in August, only one month away — is causing alarm, considering the limited time and budgets available to implement measures that might make it easier for students to socially distance in their classrooms.

DeVos appeared on CNN Sunday morning and faced intense questions from Dana Bash regarding plans to reopen schools, especially in light of recommendations from the CDC that urged more caution.

“What we’re saying is that kids need to be back in school,” DeVos told Bash, “and that school leaders across the country need to be making plans to do just that. There is going to be the exception to the rule. But the rule should be that kids go back to school this fall. And where there are little flare-ups or hot spots, that can be dealt with on a school-by-school or a case-by-case basis. There’s ample opportunity to have kids in school.”

Pressley retweeted a video clip from Bash’s interview of DeVos, and addressed the education secretary directly, tweeting at her, “you have no plan.”

“Teachers, kids and parents are fearing for their lives,” Pressley continued, slamming DeVos for taking cues from the private sector “that has put profits over people and claimed the lives of thousands of essential workers.”

“I wouldn’t trust you to care for a house plant let alone my child.”

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Sarah Rumpf - Contributing Editor

Sarah Rumpf joined Mediaite in 2020 and is a Contributing Editor focusing on politics, law, and the media. A native Floridian, Sarah attended the University of Florida, graduating with a double major in Political Science and German, and earned her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the UF College of Law. Sarah's writing has been featured at National Review, The Daily Beast, Reason, Law&Crime, Independent Journal Review, Texas Monthly, The Capitolist, Breitbart Texas, Townhall, RedState, The Orlando Sentinel, and the Austin-American Statesman, and her political commentary has led to appearances on television, radio, and podcast programs across the globe. Follow Sarah on Threads, Twitter, and Bluesky.