DeWine Challenger Jim Renacci Slams Ohio Governor: 'Masking' Kids in Schools Is 'Child Abuse'

Ohio gubernatorial candidate and former Rep. Jim Renacci (R-OH) slammed Ohio governor Mike DeWine (R) and health officials in the state over their new push to make all Ohio children wear masks in schools, calling the practice “child abuse.”

“Let’s be honest — masking our kids in schools for eight hours a day is child abuse,” Renacci said.

“Kids need to breathe properly, interact with others and to be heard,” the former congressman continued. “The long-term educational and psychological ramifications of these reckless policies are abhorrent.”

Masking our kids in schools for 8 hours a day is child abuse. I immediately call on Mike DeWine to condemn this abuse being pushed by state health leaders. pic.twitter.com/NyLTC8Y2M0

— Jim Renacci (@JimRenacci) December 29, 2021

Renacci added, “I immediately call on Mike DeWine to condemn the child abuse being pushed by state health leaders.”

“My running mate, Joe Knopp, along with countless other parents, have already seen first hand what these policies do to our kids,” the Ohio gubernatorial candidate affirmed. “I stand with Ohio’s parents and say no more!”

Renacci’s comments were in response to the Ohio Hospital Association, which released a statement on Wednesday encouraging more Ohio school boards to establish in-school mask mandates — a call that has also been echoed by Gov. Dewine.

“With Omicron spreading quickly through Ohio, we need everyone’s help to make it through the coming weeks. Please help us by requiring students to wear masks when they return to school,” the Ohio Hospital Association said in a press release.

Renacci told Breitbart News on Thursday that “people are sick and tired” of the mask mandates, and that “they are sick and tired of a governor that won’t stand up and defend them.”

“The parents are saying [the masks] are uncomfortable, [the students] don’t keep them on, they’re touching them all the time,” Renacci told Breitbart News, adding that masks “really take away from the social atmosphere” in schools.

“Parents want their children to have the ability to have a normal day in school,” the gubernatorial candidate added. “They want a governor t0 stand up and do what’s right for the parents.”

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