Left-Wing Journalists Misleadingly Quote Kayleigh McEnany On Opening Schools, Science

Several left-wing reporters misleadingly quoted White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Thursday, falsely asserting that McEnany indicated that the administration’s position on opening schools was that science regarding the COVID-19 pandemic should not be taken into consideration.

The journalists, along with a few left-wing media publications, wrote on Twitter that McEnany said that “science should not stand in the way” of children going back to school.

McEnany’s full remarks are below, with relevant portions appearing in bold:

The president has said unmistakably that he wants schools to open. And I was just in the Oval talking to him about that. And when he says open, he means open and full, kids being able to attend each and every day at their school. The science should not stand in the way of this. And as Dr. Scott Atlas said, I thought this was a good quote. Of course, we can do it. Everyone else in the Western world, our peer nations are doing it. We are the outlier here. The science is very clear on this, that for instance, you look at the JAMA Pediatric study of 46 pediatric hospitals in North America that said the risk of critical illness from COVID is far less for children than that of seasonal flu.