Maryland governor insults county health officer in Facebook comment

Maryland’s governor took to Facebook to personally criticize a county health official in response to a Facebook commenter’s concerns about the speed at which state schools are reopening for in-person learning.

In an exchange first reported by the Capital Gazette, Gov. Larry Hogan (R) responded to a commenter, Lauren Thompson, who herself had asked why Anne Arundel County’s top health executive, Nilesh Kalyanaraman, had asked to push back plans to reopen schools for in-person learning until a surge in hospitalizations is reduced.

“Why does Dr. K of Anne Arundel County Health Dept say otherwise? Our hospitals say otherwise,” Thompson continued, adding: “And I’m pretty sure inspiring teachers and families alike to head back to the classroom shouldn’t involve threats towards our beloved teachers.”

“He doesn’t really know what he’s talking about,” Hogan responded to Thompson, referring to Kalyanaraman.

In a statement to The Hill, a spokesman for the governor said that the exchange simply highlighted a “disagreement” between the two officials.

“The science supports the state guidance to reopen schools. This is just something where we have a disagreement,” Michael Ricci said.

The exchange comes in response to Hogan’s call last week for Maryland school systems to resume in-person learning, while threatening consequences for those that choose to continue with at-home learning models.

“A growing consensus has emerged, both here in Maryland and across the country, that there is no public health reason for county school boards to keep students out of schools,” the governor said at a press conference last week.

Maryland’s coronavirus outbreak spiked in early January beyond heights reached at any point during the last year, though the level of new cases has fallen somewhat in recent days.