President Donald Trump, at a White House event on Tuesday with Vice President Mike Pence, said his administration will “very much put pressure” on governors to reopen schools in the fall amid the lessening of the virus outbreak.

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“We don’t want people to make political statements or do it for political reasons, they think it’s gonna be good for them politically, so they keep the schools closed, no way,” President Trump said after mentioning that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced plans to reopen schools starting in August. “So, we are very much going to put pressure on governors and everybody else to open the schools.”

“Our country has got to get back, and it’s got to get back as soon as possible, and I don’t consider our country coming back if the schools are closed,” the president said. “Everybody wants it, the moms want it, the dads want it, the kids want it.”

The president said that the COVID-19 death rate was down “ten-fold,” adding, “We will put out the fires as they come up but we have to open up our schools.”

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, also participating in the discussion, said that U.S. deaths from the virus were “among the lowest if not the lowest in the developed world. We have the tools to reopen schools. We’re at a very different place now than when we were 2 or 3 months ago.”

President Trump had back up from the medical community: “After weighing what we know about children and the coronavirus, we really strongly advocate that the goal should be to have students physically present in the school,” American Academy of Pediatrics President Dr. Sara Goza told the media on Monday. “All policy considerations for the coming school year should start with a goal of having students physically present in school.”

Vice President Mike Pence said there was “no substitute” for in-class learning, adding that seven million students suffer from mental disturbances and received care from health services at their school.

The president said of his campaign opponent on the issue, “Corrupt Joe Biden and the Democrats don’t want to open schools in the Fall for political reasons, not for health reasons! They think it will help them in November. Wrong, the people get it!” A now-deleted tweet from Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY) on the general subject confirmed the president’s views.

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The Biden campaign responded: “We need to ensure we can do it (open schools) safely, in line with the recommendations of public health experts, and Trump keeps failing us on that score.”

Even cautious Dr. Anthony Fauci, in testimony in front of the Senate, agreed with the president: “I feel very strongly we need to do whatever we can to get the children back to school. I think we are in lock agreement with that.”

Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), himself a physician, concurred: “For a time, there may have not been enough information about coronavirus in children, but now there are examples from all across the United States and the world that show young children rarely spread the virus.”