Dr. Phil's Shocking Comment About COVID-19 In Kids On 'The View' Deeply Divides X

Dr. Phil McGraw's tirade against COVID-19 school shutdowns and their negative effects on children has sparked mixed reactions on social media.

Dr. Phil voiced his criticism about schools being shut down during the pandemic when he appeared on "The View" Monday as part of the press tour for his upcoming book, "We've Got Issues," and show, "Dr. Phil Primetime."

The TV personality and author, 73, initially discussed the negative impact social media has had on the mental health of children.

According to Dr. Phil, young people "stopped living their lives and started watching people live their lives" after smartphones and social media gained popularity, as seen in a clip from his interview that he posted on X, formerly Twitter.

He claimed that this resulted in the "biggest spike and the highest levels of depression, anxiety, loneliness, and suicidality since records have ever been kept. And it's just continued on and on and on."

Dr. Phil then touched on the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns, claiming that "the same agencies that knew" about the mental health issues in the schools "shut down the schools for two years."

He then began to complain about the negative effects of the school shutdowns on children, including the loss of support systems for many of them.

"Who does that? Who takes away the support system for these children? Who takes it away and shuts it down?" he asked. "And by the way, when they shut it down, they stopped the mandated reporters from being able to see children that were being abused and sexually molested and, in fact, sent them home and abandoned them to their abusers with no way to watch, and referrals dropped 50 to 60%."

"The View" co-hosts pushed back on Dr. Phil's comments, with Sunny Hostin pointing out that "they were trying to save children's lives" by shutting down schools at the time.

Whoopi Goldberg agreed, adding: "They were trying to save kids' lives. Remember, we know a lot of folks who died during this. So, people weren't laying around eating bonbons."

Dr. Phil countered by saying, "Not schoolchildren," to which Goldberg responded, "You know what? We're lucky. Maybe we're lucky they didn't because we kept them out of the places that they could get sick because no one wanted to believe we had an issue."

Asked if he meant that no schoolchildren died of COVID-19, Dr. Phil claimed they were "the safest group" and "the less vulnerable group" during the pandemic.

"They suffered and will suffer more from the mismanagement of COVID than they will from the exposure to COVID, and that's not an opinion, that's a fact," he said before the show went on a commercial break.

Dr. Phil's comments divided users on X with some agreeing with him and others pushing back on his claims.

One supporter commented: "Dr. Phil, speaking the truth. Something rarely seen on 'The View.'"

"The host should admit it was overreaching to shut down schools for 2 years," another X user claimed.

"My granddaughter suffered horribly. Between the structure disruption and the mandatory masking, it will have a life long impact on her," another alleged.

A fourth supporter praised him, writing: "Obviously and always the smartest guy in any room, Doc."

However, many others slammed Dr. Phil over his comments, saying he was not an expert on epidemiology and thus was not qualified to make such claims.

"Dr Phil, who is NOT a medical doctor. Yes, I am sure it affected mental health, it affected all of us. But, when was the last time we had a pandemic? Who really knew what to do for sure? Most people tried their best," an X user argued.

Another person had a similar take, pointing out that Dr. Phil is "not a medical doctor or doctor of epidemiology...so his opinion is just an opinion."

Some also accused Dr. Phil of "disregarding" the safety of the teachers and school staffers in this scenario.

"Kids are not the only people in schools. You are totally disregarding teachers and staff. They go home spreading germs to high risk parents and grandparents as well. It wasn't only about protecting the kids," one person wrote.

One X user pointed out that classes did not stop during the pandemic, and teachers continued to teach and support their students despite the shutdowns.

"Dr. we were teaching!!! Do you want me to send you my Google classroom meetings??" the user wrote.

According to the World Health Organization, at least 3 million people had died of COVID-19 around the world by December of 2020, the first year the shutdowns were implemented. This is 1.2 million more than the figure initially reported.

Worldometer reported that the coronavirus death toll is nearly 7 million as of February.