President Donald Trump said Thursday that those who are opposed to children returning to school in the fall are doing so for “political” reasons and to hurt his chances of reelection.

Speaking in the Rose Garden as he announced the White House Hispanic Prosperity Initiative, the president went on an extended, rambling diatribe, whining that “they” don’t want children back in school because it’s all “politics,” adding:

“Those at lower risk such as young, and healthy – children in many cases the immune system is so powerful, so strong – but the young and the healthy to safely return to work and to school.

“We have to open our schools! Open our schools. Stop this nonsense. We open our schools.”

Completely ignoring a recent poll showing that almost 70 percent of parents are worried about sending their children back to school, Trump continued:

“Germany, Norway, so many countries right now, they’re open, their schools are open and they’re doing just fine and they’re opening in the fall, so we have to get our schools open. Denmark, Sweden.

“We have to get our schools open, and stop this political nonsense. And it’s only political nonsense.”

And then there was yet another reiteration of what he’d already said:

“It’s politics. They don’t want to open because they think it will help them on November 3. I think it’s going to hurt them on November 3.

“Open your school!”

So apparently if you care about your children and their health, that doesn’t mean you’re a good parent in Trump’s distorted view of the world. Instead, it means you’re trying to make sure he doesn’t get a second term in office. But given the way he’s repeatedly mishandled the pandemic since it arrived in the U.S., it’s clear that we can’t rely on this president to protect any of us.

Here’s the real question that needs to be asked of Trump and other members of his administration who are pushing for schools to reopen: Will you be sending your kids? If not, when why should any of us send ours?

Featured Image Via NBC News