President Joe Biden on Thursday hit out at anti-masking protesters for politicizing the Covid-19 pandemic, saying he was particularly disturbed by scenes at a school board meeting in Tennessee earlier this week.
During remarks on his plan to lower prescription drug costs, Biden said there are people in America who are “trying to turn a public safety measure, that is children wearing masks in school so they can be safe, into a political dispute.”
“This isn’t about politics. This is about keeping our children safe,” Biden said at the start of remarks at the White House Thursday afternoon.
The President specifically pointed to a recent protest in Williamson County, Tennessee, where anti-mask activists harassed public health officials at a school board meeting testifying in favor of mask mandates in schools to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
With the highly contagious Delta variant, Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations among children have been on the rise. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends students from kindergarten through grade 12 wear masks in school, along with teachers and visitors, while the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends masks in schools for everyone over age two.
