President Joe Biden condemned protesters who abused doctors and nurses for arguing in favor of school mask mandates on Thursday as he praised officials who were standing up to governors where such orders have been banned.
'This isn’t about politics,' he said at the White House. 'This is about keeping our children safe.'
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's recent decision to urge all students and staff to wear masks regardless of vaccination status has caused confusion and political rows just before a new school year was due to start.
Several Republican states, including Florida and Texas, have moved to prevent schools issuing mask mandates, much to the consternation of health officials.
Biden said he was disturbed to watch video of doctors and nurses being harassed in Tennessee after they left a school board meeting where they had spoken in favor of mandatory masking.
'As they walked out, these doctors were threatened, these nurses were threatened,' he said.
'You know health care workers are heroes. They were the heroes when there was no vaccine.
'They are doing their best to care for the people refusing to get vaccinated, and unvaccinated folks are being hospitalized and dying as a result of not being vaccinated.'
President Biden said mandatory masks were not about politics but about keeping children safe in schools as he condemned protesters in Tennessee who abused health officials
Video shows disgruntled parents and anti-mask demonstrators harassing health care professionals and school board officials after the Williamson County Schools Board of Education voted to require masks for students, staff and visitors inside and on school premises
And he praised the mayors, school superintendents, educators and local leaders standing up to governors.
'Thank you. Thank God that we have heroes like you and I stand with you all. And America should as well'
