Scalise: Trump Filling Responsibility With Federal Agents in Cities

President Donald Trump has a responsibility to keep Americans safe, and sending federal law enforcement into cities that are being slammed by violence is part of his duty, even if "local mayors are not going to be willing to keep their people safe," House Minority Whip Steve Scalise said Tuesday. 

"You've seen the defund the police movement and whether it's Joe Biden saying he's going to allocate money away from police officers, that is defunding police and that's not where most Americans are," the Louisiana Republican said on Fox News' "America's Newsroom." "Americans deserve to be safe in their homes and be safe when they go about their business, and right now some of these mayors are not providing that."

Scalise also talked about how to get children back in the nation's schools while the coronavirus pandemic continues after Florida's teachers' union pushed back on returning to classes. 

"This is a critical debate that we have to get through," Scalise said. "We put a man on the moon and to suggest that we can't get away to safely reopen schools is ludicrous. The American Academy of Pediatrics talked about the damage it does to kids if they are not getting that in-school learning."

There is also a "lot of science behind us" and it is well documented that schools can open safely, Scalise added. 

"We were talking about the protocols for safely reopening schools which we are doing in Louisiana," said Scalise. "Other states need to figure out how to do it because it's a disservice to these kids. If there's ever been a stronger argument for school choice, if the school system is willing to take your money and not figure out the do the hard work of figuring out how to save the reopen and there's something else that's willing to educate your child in person safely, you ought to be able to have the dollar follow the child ... it's about the children and we as adults have to do our work to make sure we are serving those kids."

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