Cornyn draws fire over comment on virus and children
WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. John Cornyn said during a TV interview Thursday that it’s unclear whether children can get and transmit COVID-19. That same day, Texas reported more than 550 COVID infections in children 9 and younger.
Cornyn’s comment comes as the Trump administration has pushed this week for schools to reopen in the fall, with the president going as far as to threaten to cut off federal funding for those that don’t. In Texas, officials have said schools must reopen in August, with few exceptions.
Asked about reopening schools, the Republican said during an interview on NBCDFW that “the most important thing is safety.”
“The schools can open, but if parents don’t feel comfortable sending their children back, then they won’t,” Cornyn said. “I think we’ve got a long way to go in regaining their confidence.”
He continued: “The good news is, if you look at the numbers, no one under the age of 20 has died of coronavirus.”
“We still don’t know whether children can get it and transmit it to others,” he said.
Texas reported 1,722 confirmed cases in people 19 and younger, including 550 in children 9 and younger as of Thursday. At least one Texan under the age of 18 is reported to have died of the coronavirus, a 17-year-old girl from Lancaster who died in April, according to health officials there, the Dallas Morning News reported.
A spokesman for Cornyn said the senator was not questioning whether children can catch the virus, but the extent to which they can transmit it.
“This comment is being widely misinterpreted on social media and unfairly twisted by partisan Democrats for political gain,” said Drew Brandewie, a spokesman for the senator. “Sen. Cornyn was not questioning whether children can catch the virus — of course they can. He was questioning the likelihood that children can catch it and THEN transmit it.”
Brandewie said Cornyn was referring to a tweet from Scott Gottlieb,
a former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, that said: “Balance of data clearly shows they’re less likely to become infected and less likely to transmit infection.”
“But IMHO we need to have humility on this question and recognize we don’t fully understand all the risks; and while kids are less vulnerable, less risk doesn’t mean no risk,” Gottlieb said in the tweet.
The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said this week that “we really don’t have evidence that children are driving the transmission cycle of this” during a White House Task Force briefing to address school reopenings. White House health adviser Dr. Deborah Birx said later in the briefing that there isn’t enough data yet to know the extent to which children drive transmission, as most of the testing so far has been in adults.
The Democrats’ vying to take on Cornyn in the November election hammered him for the comments Friday.
Royce West, a longtime state senator from Dallas, called Cornyn’s remarks “irresponsible and asinine.”
“The problem here is that John Cornyn has lost touch with Texas,” West said. “If he had closer connections to the people, and to more families who have been impacted by this terrible disease, he wouldn’t engage in such irresponsible conduct.”
Former Air Force pilot MJ Hegar said “it is inexcusable that once again Sen. Cornyn, who is tasked with making critical decisions about our government’s response to COVID-19, doesn’t know basic publicly available information about it.
“For the health and safety of Texans, it is time to send Cornyn packing,” Hegar said.