Politicians lie. Some like Joe Biden lie often. In the debates that took place on Tuesday, more lies were being told by politicians. John Fetterman lie about not having previously been against fracking in the debate with Dr. Mehmet Oz for the Pennsylvania Senate seat. Kathy Hochul claimed that criminals are being punished for their actions in New York when the biggest issue is that they're not.
However, the top deceit of the night came from Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer during her debate with Tudor Dixon. Democrats have tried to hide from their record and participation in COVID school lockdowns since most of the detrimental impacts on our kids' education are now confirmed. Whitmer was among the most ineffective governors in the nation for lockdowns.
However, Gretchen Whitmer claimed that she just kept children from school for three months while she attempted to explain why the scores of school tests are plummeting.
“Mrs. Dixon says I kept students out longer than any other state…kids were out for three months,” Whitmer claimed, while she smiled.
Tudor Dixon didn't let the lying go unchallenged, and she nailed Whitmer on it.
“I’m pretty sure I just heard an audible gasp around town when Gretchen Whitmer said that kids were out of school for three months,” Dixon replied. “Maybe she thinks she can convince YOU that schools were closed for three months, but you know better because your students are the ones that are desperately behind.”
Does she really believe that parents will be confused and not remember how long their kids were absent from school and how much it affected them? Some lies politicians may be able to say without being caught, but this is one of the cases which the facts prove she's blatantly lying. The affected people are likely to tell her about this at the polls. Parents have become a formidable voting block, particularly during the election that was won by Glenn Youngkin in Virginia last year. Already, she's in trouble for her lockdowns, and lying about it only increases the problem.
The Truth? Whitmer shut down schools from March 2020 until April 5th. Then, she extended the shut-down to the remainder of the term through June. Then, in the following school year, the Department of Health shut down colleges and high schools again in November 2020.
Jarrett Skorup, communications director for the free-market Mackinac Center for Public Policy in Midland, posted a state health department notice from November 2020 saying that high schools and colleges were closed for in-person learning, while local districts had the option of keeping K-8 schools open.
“So…yeah…her statement here is clearly false,” tweeted Mr. Skorup.
The Mackinac Center also noted how the situation was deteriorating under Whitmer's direction.
In fact, Whitmer did not recommend that schools return to in-person instruction until March 2021. When she made that announcement, 23% of Michigan schools were fully in person, compared with 47% in Ohio, 54% in Wisconsin, and 76% in Indiana.
Some of the largest school districts in the state offered only virtual instruction for almost an entire academic year. Michigan was 33rd nationally when it came to offering in-person instruction for the 2020-2021 school year.
The schools in Flint and Detroit were among those closed for in-person instruction the longest. Minority students saw the largest drops in test scores, with the percentage of Black third-graders meeting or exceeding math proficiency standards falling by more than one-third.
On the NAEP, Michigan students dropped in every category. Fourth-grade reading fell to a 30-year low. In Detroit, students in the public school district have long scored the worst in the nation in reading and math. Their test scores still dropped sharply during COVID.
Dixon also brought up other negative aspects of the lockdown, such as the nursing home responses.
She also criticized Whitmer's policies that are harmful to energy, and specifically Line 5, which is essential to the energy supply in the region, especially during the coming winter. Whitmer said she was trying to keep Line 5 open, when it was actually the reverse.
This is just one more debate in which the Democrat lied, while the Republican did a great job. The race is a tight one with both candidates tied at around 47 percent. This suggests that we could see another turn here, especially in light of how many hate Whitmer.
