Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley warned against returning to lockdowns and shutting down schools amid a post-summer rise in COVID-19 cases nationwide, claiming the last time the country went into lockdown, it "wreaked havoc" on the United States.

The U.S. has seen a rise in COVID-19 cases over the past several weeks, prompting businesses in areas with higher transmission rates to require masks again. First lady Jill Biden is among those who have tested positive for the virus.

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“Forced lockdowns wreaked havoc on our families, our business, and Americans’ physical and mental health," Haley told the Washington Examiner on Wednesday. "School closures set back our children’s education, resulting in severe learning and developmental loss. To this day, many on the Left refuse to acknowledge what they did to our children. We won’t allow government overreach to hurt America again.”

School closures reportedly resulted in lower test scores once schools were reopened, and information from the Education Department earlier this year showed approximately half of students across the country began the 2022-23 school year at a grade level behind in at least one subject. Conservatives claimed this change was caused by prolonged closures from the pandemic, while Democrats claimed the closures were necessary to keep students alive.

There were 17,418 hospital admissions from the virus nationwide from Aug. 20-26, 2023, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Haley is expected to discuss education and the effect of school closures at a town hall in Manchester, New Hampshire, on Wednesday night with the conservative organization Moms for Liberty.

Manchester was selected to host an education town hall because a mother is suing the school district after learning she was not notified about her child going by a different pronoun and name at school. However, the school district maintains it has the right to keep LGBT information secret from parents.

Moms for Liberty has received backlash from the Left over its stances and advocacy on LGBT rights and critical race theory. But Haley has defended the group, claiming that if the organization is an "extremist" or "hate" group, then count her as one, too.

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“I am so excited to be able to join Nikki Haley at this education town hall," Tiffany Justice, co-founder of Moms for Liberty, said in a statement obtained by the Washington Examiner. "It is vital for parents to know where all the presidential candidates stand on issues like the weaponization of the federal government against parents and public school overreach at the expense of parental control."

Haley will be speaking at the town hall at 7 p.m. and is expected to sign the group's "parental rights" pledge prior to the event.