DeSantis rips Biden as being 'obsessed' with forcing 'kindergarteners to wear masks all day in school' while 'letting Afghanistan burn, our border burn'



The ongoing feud between Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and President Joe Biden continued this week as the two politicians attacked each other. DeSantis slammed Biden for his handling of the pullout in Afghanistan and said the president is "obsessed with having the government force kindergarteners to wear masks all day in school."

During an appearance on Fox News' "Hannity" on Wednesday, DeSantis blasted Biden for the turbulent withdrawal from Afghanistan.

"Well, he's asleep at the switch," DeSantis said of Biden's withdrawal from the now Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.

"When you're leaving thousands of Americans to fend for themselves behind enemy lines, that matters. When you're leaving billions of dollars in military equipment for our enemies to just take, that matters. It's going to make that area a disaster."

"Obviously, Americans are at risk," DeSantis told Fox News host Sean Hannity. "And Sean, you know, who's looking at this? China, Russia, North Korea, all of our adversaries are taking the measure of Joe Biden. And they see that this is not somebody who's capable of leading with conviction and leading on the world stage. So they are going to do everything they can, as long as he's president, to take advantage of that. And I think we're in for a rocky three and a half years, as long as he's president."

"He was on vacation; they had to ply him off of vacation to give a kind of a half-cocked statement on camera that he said wasn't taking questions," the Republican governor added. "Then he goes back on vacation, and he is obsessed, while you have all this stuff going on with Afghanistan, obviously all this stuff at the southern border — which you and I have talked about, one of the biggest border disasters in the history of our country — inflation, gas prices, and what does he do? He is obsessed with having the government force kindergarteners to wear masks all day in school."

DeSantis questioned Biden's fixation on mask mandates for schoolchildren. "And you got to wonder, where are your priorities that you're so obsessed with this issue and so obsessed with taking away parents' rights? You're letting Afghanistan burn, our border burn, and so many other things in country fall to pieces."

Gov. Ron DeSantis savages Joe Biden for his inability to lead. Biden is showing all of America’s adversaries—China,… https://t.co/wuBbJC7z0B

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DeSantis was referring to Biden's address earlier Wednesday, in which the president never mentioned Afghanistan and didn't take a single question from the press corps. What President Biden did talk about was taking "legal action" against states that enacted bans on mask mandates in public schools.

"Today, I am directing the secretary of education — an educator himself — to take additional steps to protect our children," Biden declared from the East Room of the White House. "This includes using all of his oversight authorities and legal actions, if appropriate, against governors who are trying to block and intimidate local school officials and educators."

"As I've said before, if you aren't going to fight COVID-19, at least get out of the way of everyone else who is trying," Biden said, referring to Republican governors like DeSantis who have implemented bans on mask mandates for students. "We're not going to sit by as governors try to block and intimidate educators protecting our children."

While Americans are trapped in an Afghanistan under Taliban control, Joe Biden is taking digs at governors such as… https://t.co/rurILMcxJ5

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Education Secretary Miguel Cardona has raised the possibility of using the department's civil rights enforcement arm to fight bans on mask mandates.

"We cannot sit around. We have to do everything in our power, including civil rights investigations and even referring matters to the Department of Justice for enforcement if necessary," Cardona proclaimed.

"I've heard those parents saying, 'Miguel, because of these policies, my child cannot access their school, I would be putting them in harm's way,'" Cardona said. "And to me, that goes against a free, appropriate public education. That goes against the fundamental beliefs of educators across the country to protect their students and provide a well-rounded education."

"The department has the authority to investigate any state educational agency whose policies or actions may infringe on the rights of every student to access public education equally," Cardona noted.

The New York Times explained, "If state policies and actions rise to potential violations of students' civil rights, the department could initiate its own investigations into districts and investigate complaints made by parents and advocates who argue that prohibiting mask mandates could deny students' right to education by putting them in harm's way in school."

Florida, Texas, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah, and Tennessee enacted orders prohibiting school districts from imposing mask requirements. Arizona passed a ban on mask mandates in schools, but it doesn't go into effect until Sept. 29.

"These states are needlessly placing students, families, and educators at risk," Cardona wrote. "Yet in each of these states, there are also educators and others who are taking steps to protect the health and safety of their school communities."

Cardona wrote letters to the seven states with bans on mask mandates that threatened to cut federal funding to states that block school districts from enacting "science-based strategies."

"The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP Act) requires each school district that receives Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds to adopt a plan for the safe return to in-person instruction and continuity of services," Cardona wrote in a blog post. "As I wrote in the letters, actions to block school districts from voluntarily adopting science-based strategies for preventing the spread of COVID-19 that are aligned with the guidance from the CDC may infringe upon a school district's authority to adopt policies to protect students and educators as they develop their safe return to in-person instruction plans required by Federal law."

Texas school adds masks to dress code in bid to get around state ban on mask mandates, prompting outrage



A northeast Texas school district recently made facial coverings a required part of the district dress code in a bid to circumvent Gov. Greg Abbott's ban on mask mandates.

"For health reasons, masks are required for all employees and students to mitigate flu, cold, pandemic, and any other communicable diseases," Paris Independent School District board member Dr. Bert Strom said in a motion during an emergency meeting on Tuesday.

His motion to add masks to the dress code was later approved in a 5-1 vote, the Paris News reported. The unusual measure was an obvious retaliation against Abbott's statewide order, issued late last month.

In an accompanying statement, board members argued that nothing in the governor's order allows him to usurp its authority over schools in the district.

"The Board believes the dress code can be used to mitigate communicable health issues, and therefore has amended the PISD dress code to protect our students and employees," the board said.

"The Texas Governor does not have the authority to usurp the Board of Trustees' exclusive power and duty to govern and oversee the management of the public schools of the district. Nothing in the Governor's Executive Order 38 states he has suspended Chapter 11 of the Texas Education Code, and therefore the Board has elected to amend its dress code consistent with its statutory authority," it added.

The news comes as Abbott's mask mandate ban faces legal challenges in the state's court system. The ban was subjected to a temporary restraining order by a district court judge last week as coronavirus cases were on the rise in the state. But on Sunday, the Texas Supreme Court sided with the governor, upholding the ban.

The Paris school board's move was touted by some but reviled by others. Among the critics was parent Joshua Vorron, who told the Paris News that his child suffered mental health consequences as a result of the district's mask mandate last year.

"Shame on you," Vorron reportedly said as he exited the board meeting following the vote.

He, along with "several parents and staff members," urged the board to allow families to decide for themselves whether or not their children should wear a facial covering, the outlet reported.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other public health agencies have recently re-upped recommendations that Americans wear masks indoors to prevent the spread of the Delta variant, even if they're vaccinated.

Abbott, in defense of his ban on mask mandates, has characterized the issue as a choice between freedom and control.

"The path forward relies on personal responsibility — not government mandates," he said earlier this month, according to NBC News.

The governor, who is vaccinated, announced on Tuesday that he had contracted COVID-19 in a "breakthrough" infection.