Battle Over Schools Explodes in Ignorance

The David Pakman Show - July 10, 2020

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Trump & Pence Simultaneous Implosion on Coronavirus

Donald Trump and Mike Pence have been pushing for schools to reopen in the fall, despite the US reporting record new coronavirus cases. The administration has pointed to countries which have opened schools, like Germany, Denmark, and Norway, to argue that the US should reopen them as well. However, those nations largely have the pandemic under control at this point, whereas the US continues to surge. When asked to defend the push to reopen, Pence said schools will be prepared to handle the virus because of the “historic mobilization that President Trump initiated.”

It is clear that Trump wants to reopen schools not because it’s sensible policy, but because he thinks it will serve him politically. Kids going back to school in the fall would provide the appearance that America is going back to normal right in time for the November election. If the US had had a coordinated lockdown response with adequate testing and better messaging around masks, maybe we would be in a position to reopen schools in the fall. The Trump-led effort has instead made that proposition a dangerous one.

Caller: How is Trump Worse Than Bush?

A caller debates David on whether Donald Trump is a uniquely bad president and whether he is worse than George W. Bush. The caller argues that Bush invaded nations under false premises and committed war crimes. David retorts by stressing that while Trump and Bush will both be viewed as horrible presidents, Trump is bad for different reasons: his failure to listen to experts, his disinformation campaigns, his pathological lying, etc. The pandemic has done a lot to highlight the acute danger of someone like Trump in the White House.

From yesterday’s show:

Texas AGAIN Sets Death Record as Trump Says "Back to School"

Texas set another single-day coronavirus death record this week. Cases in the Lone Star State began spiking around June 16th to 18th and now a spike in deaths is happening as a result. California, Florida, and Arizona continue to struggle with the virus as well. Oklahoma, where Trump recently held a rally, is also setting new single-day case records. Of course, this hasn’t changed Trump’s road map for reopening the country, and it’s not clear that anything will.

--More on the show:

--Caller talks about Trump's plan to reopen schools in the fall

--Caller asks if Massachusetts will enact ranked choice voting

--Caller wonders if school funding should be connected to property taxes

--Caller asks why right-wingers don't care about the US's international standing

--Caller asks if David would vote Kanye West over Donald Trump

--Caller from Jamaica loves watching TDPS and Secular Talk

--Audience Question: What will progressives do if Joe Biden wins the election?

--Audience Question: How is Trump still beating Biden on the economy?

--Audience Question: Which Biden VP pick would do the most damage?

--On the Bonus Show: Trump coronavirus approval at record low, money can buy happiness, and much more...

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