Devin Nunes has dangerous views on coronavirus and schools. He should keep them to himself

Rep. Devin Nunes, one of the GOP’s top leaders in the House, thinks it is more dangerous for people to shelter at home right now from the coronavirus than to be exposed to the contagion itself.

And keeping schoolchildren from returning to classes? The Republican from Tulare thinks that is ridiculous.

Actually, the most dangerous aspects of Nunes’ latest Fox News appearance are his ill-informed and flat-wrong comments as the nation battles the COVID-19 pandemic.

He made the remarks on “The Ingraham Angle” on Fox News Tuesday, an unfortunate follow-up to his March 15 appearance on that network in which he encouraged Americans to go to local restaurants so they can stay in business, the health experts’ recommendations against social crowding be damned.

It should be noted that Nunes tried to walk those words back just hours later, but the damage had already been done.

In both instances, Nunes has paid lip service to public health while showing deeper concern for the state of the economy.

While saying it is important to understand how and why coronavirus is harming so many, Nunes told Ingraham Tuesday that the focus needs to shift to the economy.

“All American politicians and the media need to stop looking at death counters,” he said. “Let’s talk about how we can keep as many people employed as possible. That’s the key right now, Laura …

“Because if you don’t, what you said earlier is correct. When you have people staying at home, not taking care of themselves, you will have a hell of a lot more people dying by other causes than you will the coronavirus.”

Fact check: As reported Tuesday by The New York Times, more Americans have now died from the coronavirus than were killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Federal estimates predict 100,000 to 240,000 Americans will die from COVID-19 before the pandemic is over.

A few minutes later in the segment, Nunes pivoted to complain about how California schoolchildren will likely finish their academic year at home with remote instruction rather than return to their campuses.

“Look, the schools were just canceled out here in California, which is way overkill,” Nunes said. “It’s possible kids could have went (sic) back to school in two weeks to four weeks, but they just canceled the rest of school.”

Was Nunes actually suggesting children and teachers should head back to their school buildings, and face the risk of the coronavirus spreading? Talk about irresponsible — and likely grounds for local districts facing lawsuits from irate parents.

The consensus among public health experts is clear: A key to ending this pandemic is keeping the virus from spreading. That means not congregating in large groups, and letting social distancing have the time needed to work.

Nunes’ messaging conflicts with what the federal Centers for Disease Control, state health officials and local public health officers are advising. His words will embolden citizens to ignore the calls to shelter at home as much as possible.

It was announced Wednesday that a second person had died in Tulare County from the disease. The five-county central San Joaquin Valley region has seen three deaths and 164 cases since early last month.

Fortunately, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and state education leaders Wednesday said students should not return to campuses for the rest of this academic year. Learning will be done at home via computer.

As for Nunes, he would do well to stop spouting dangerous views on Fox News shows. A better use of his time, given the pandemic, would be for him to home-school his children.

This story was originally published April 1, 2020 at 4:16 PM.