WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, House Republican Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) joined Fox News Channel’s The Faulkner Focus, where he discussed the letter he sent to CDC Director Rochelle Walensky demanding she turn over communications between the CDC and American Federation of Teachers, following the alarming revelations that the union successfully lobbied the CDC on its school reopening guidance issued earlier this year. Whip Scalise went on to criticize the Biden Administration for refusing to address the crisis along the southern border, ignoring the terrible jobs numbers, and failing to reverse his disastrous energy policies that have caused gas prices to rise. In addition, Whip Scalise slammed the FBI’s labeling of the 2017 Congressional Baseball Game shooting as “suicide by cop,” noting that the shooter had a list of Republicans he planned to target.
On President Biden’s refusal follow the science and safely reopen schools:
“I think the CDC is in trouble because they’re being asked very serious questions, and [when] you go back to the campaign, President Biden said he was going to follow the science, and then here you had science saying most schools could reopen. In fact, the scientists were saying all schools should be opened, and they were getting ready to come out with that, and all of a sudden, the teachers unions said, ‘Well, wait, we don’t want to have to go back into the classroom and let students back in,’ and so you saw them change it. They changed some of the basic metrics of science that were going to be used, so instead of having most kids back in the classroom, very few kids, about 90 percent of schools stayed closed because of that change in [the] metrics [which] undermined the science. And that was done by the Biden Administration. They have yet to answer for it. We’re trying to get those communications because this is hurting kids. It’s hurting millions of kids across America who may never make up this difference of not being in the classroom when they should be, and science says they need to be.”
On a far-left teachers union influencing the Biden Administration’s position on in-person classroom learning:
“It’s very important and again something that should be on the table for discussion. When you heard President Biden saying he was going to follow the science and all of a sudden he [threw] the science out the window because a special interest donor, the teachers union, says that they don’t want kids to be back in the classroom learning. And we’re seeing this in so many states where parents are just rising up, even in Berkeley when the teachers union head is telling all the teachers, ‘Don’t go to class, you can’t be in the classroom,’ and then they see him taking his kids to private school in the classroom that double standard is just — people are going [to be] livid, they’re infuriated because they know it is hurting their kids and they’re watching these union heads take steps that go against the kids. San Francisco, just to get a money grab is going to go in the classroom for one day. So, it shows you they can be in the classroom if it’s about grabbing a bunch of money, but if it’s about helping your kids, they’re not in the classroom. This is a dangerous place to see what they’re doing long-term damage for our kids.”
On President Biden’s failure to lead the American people during consecutive crises:
“President Biden’s leadership is non-existent. And you just mentioned a number of crises that we’re seeing. The crisis at the border has become very evident. The President still won’t acknowledge and go down to the border. Gas prices are through the roof, and people are now waiting in line. There was a major hack by Russia likely. President Biden doesn’t want to confront that. You’re looking at home prices, right now because of lumber prices going through the roof. An average home is over $36,000 more than it was a year ago. Look at what’s happening right now with unemployment — eight million jobs are unfilled right now, and President Biden just ushered through a partisan bill to pay people billions of dollars not to work when eight million jobs are unfilled right now. We’re paying people not to work, and they’re borrowing money from our kids and our grandkids to do it. We’ve seen this on every front, and the economy is really in a delicate spot. We’re seeing inflation starting to go through the roof. Our country is less secure. Look at what’s happening around the world — the Middle East, Iran — who the President wants to let back into an agreement to get a nuclear weapon. [The Iranians are] helping funnel these bombs that are being shot into Israel. I mean where is the President’s leadership on any of these crises?”
On the FBI designating the Congressional Baseball Game shooting as “suicide by cop”:
“You know, my colleague Brad Wenstrup, he’s a Congressman, but [also] a medical doctor who saved me on that ball field. He started asking the new FBI Director Wray why the FBI classified this as suicide by cop. Everybody who knows [what] happened on that ball field knows it wasn’t suicide by cop. He went there to kill every Republican on the ball field. He had a list of names of other Republicans he wanted to kill and thank God for the heroism of Capitol Police, who, by the way, were in plain clothes. They were not dressed out as officers that day. So he didn’t know that they were cops, and they get into a shoot-out. He was trying to kill them. They both got shot, David and Crystal, in the shoot-out. That’s not suicide by cop, and yet, that’s how it’s classified by the FBI. Other agencies have called it domestic terrorism, which is more what it is. We’ve asked the FBI to go back and just update the record to reflect this properly, but also let us know why it was classified that way in the first place when everybody else who’s given it a classification called it domestic terrorism.”