Fox News guest claims Michelle Obama to blame for schools not reopening during Covid pandemic

A Fox News pundit has accused Michelle Obama of doing nothing to assist with schools reopening amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The accusations came from contributor Rachel Campos-Duffy when discussing the current situation Chicago schools, and other areas across the country, were seeing with teacher unions fighting against reopening the institutions over safety concerns.

"Who is looking out for you when it comes to getting children back in the classroom?" host Harris Faulkner asked at the start of the segment.

Ms Campos-Duffy responded: "Joe Biden and the Democrat Party are beholden to the teachers unions. They have way too much power. They are holding families and children hostage."

"Frankly, they're holding the entire country hostage," she added.

She claimed that the Obama family held the power to reopen schools, specifically in Chicago, with "with one little tweet."

"They have not been shy about stepping into politics," Ms Campos-Duffy said. "Not just presidential politics but Michelle Obama used her powerful platform in defence of children who came here illegally at the border with the so-called cages that, in fact, her husband built. So she's not afraid to weigh in on behalf of children who are not American citizens. But she has done nothing – and same with her husband and same with Joe Biden – in defence of the children of Chicago and of this country who are beholden and held hostage to the unions."

Democratic strategist Jose Aristimuno pushed back on the claims that the Biden administration has done nothing in recent days in order to get children back into classrooms.

"President Biden has been in office for 19 days," Mr Aristimuno said. "He declared this a national emergency. We're going to get children in school. He recognises it's important but we've got to do it in a safe manner. The CDC is going to come out with guidance this week that will allow public schools to do so."

"We should root for the president to get this done," he added.

Reopening schools was a key aspect of Mr Biden's coronavirus response plan to get the nation back to normal. But his administration has faced pushback for how these schools could reopen without all teachers vaccinated.

States like Texas and Florida have ordered publicly-funded schools to reopen amid the pandemic, forcing teachers into the classroom. But California and Illinois are in bitter negotiation battles between local governments and teacher unions over the issue.

When discussing the vaccine rollout last week, Dr Rochelle Walenesky, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director, said "there is increasing data to suggest that schools can safely reopen" and noted that "vaccination of teachers is not a prerequisite for safe reopening of schools".

She added on Friday that the CDC would release guidance this week to assist schools on reopening as more of the country gets vaccinated.

"Our goal is to get children back to school. School should be the last places closed and the first places open. Our goal is to make sure in getting children back to school that we do so both with the safety of the children and the safety of the teachers," Dr Walensky said.

But the Biden administration has grappled with the difficult question of forcing teachers back before they're vaccinated, which goes against what some teacher unions want, or bending to these unions despite what recent scientific data has suggested about school safety and the spread of Covid-19.

According to one study from CDC researchers, only 3.7 per cent of documented Covid-19 cases among staff and students "were linked to in-school transmission, and all seven were among children" when examining 17 schools in Wisconsin over the course of three months.

Mr Biden addressed the issue when speaking to CBS News' Norah O'Donnell on Sunday, saying he believed schools could reopen with specific safety measures.

"You have to have fewer people in classrooms. You have to have ventilation systems that have been re-worked," he said. "Our CDC commissioner is going to be coming out with science-based judgement within I think as early as Wednesday to lay out what the minimum requirements are."