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Joy Behar suggests making kids 'repeat' school year after Covid-19 disruption, Internet asks 'is this a joke?'

Behar's tweet caused a storm on social media, sparking backlash from concerned parents who said the idea was really 'far-out'

Joy Behar has a master's degree in English from Stony Brook University, but she is known to make the occasional faux pas, like when she mocked a Miss America Pageant contestant from Colorado in 2015 for wearing scrubs and a “doctor’s stethoscope” despite the latter's profession as a nurse. This time, however, the co-host of ABC's 'The View' managed to rile up frustrated parents on social media with a rather controversial tweet about having children "repeat the year" due to COVID-19 concerns.

Behar was responding to a New York Times article published on Monday that noted how the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had now determined -- after almost a year into the pandemic -- that it was safe to put children back into schools. “Sending kids back to school this year is so fraught with anxiety and uncertainty," she wrote on Twitter. "Why not just have everyone repeat the year? Is that such a far-out idea?” 

Behar's tweet caused a storm on social media, sparking backlash from concerned parents who said the idea was really "far-out." "Absolutely not. I’m a teacher and have busted my back teaching this year virtually and that is like telling all of us nothing we do right now matters, and it was all for nothing. The kids will be fine. We will meet them where they are as we always have when in-person resumes," one tweeted. "What are people in all the sane parts of the country, who followed the science and the scientists, whose kids had a fairly normal year that all of ours kids should have had, going to do?" New York Post columnist Karol Marcowicz wondered.

"Not just that but here in Chicago, all the public school kids have been out but the private school kids have been in. So you keep 25% back but force 75% to repeat? Also, if this year meant nothing why are we paying teachers for it?" Daily Wire writer Emily Zanotti chimed in. "Millions of parents terrified for their children's wellbeing because they are not in school. Suicides and depression are spiking among kids separated from their friends and normal lives. How about just opening the damn schools for those who want to attend? Is that so far out?" another concerned user added.

"My kids went back in August and not 1 case. Now we have kids out there committing suicide not to mention what their home life is like. Send them back to school. As the Dems say... Follow the science!!" a fourth wrote.

"Is...is this a joke? I mean, you're not exactly known for being particularly funny or insightful, so I'm honestly asking," a fifth quipped.

'The View' co-host has been a vocal critic of former President Donald Trump, who advocated for schools to be opened throughout the 2020 campaign trail. But earlier this month, Behar said the 45th POTUS had “made it his business for four years to rape this country.”

“I worry about my grandchild, you know, I only have one grandchild and one daughter," Behar told her co-hosts on 'The View'. "There are some people who have no children who don’t worry about the environment as much. I know them. They just say, ‘Well, I’m not going to be here.’ Well, I’m not going to be here either, but my little Luca is going to be here, and I want him to be able to drink the water and breathe the air."