Texas’ GOP lieutenant governor said Monday night he, other seniors and grandparents will take care of themselves during the coronavirus pandemic, even to the point of risking their health and their lives so the U.S. could “get back to work.”
Dan Patrick made the remarks during an appearance on Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight.”
“Those of us who are 70-plus, we’ll take care of ourselves,” Patrick said. “But don’t sacrifice the country.”
“No one reached out to me and said, ‘As a senior citizen, are you willing to take a chance on your survival in exchange for keeping the America that America loves for its children and grandchildren?’ And if that is the exchange, I’m all in,” said Patrick, who turns 70 next week.
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Patrick’s comments followed President Donald Trump’s comment earlier Monday about the country returning to business in weeks rather than months, arguing continued closures could result in more deaths than the pandemic itself.
“We can’t have the cure be worse than the problem,” Trump told reporters at a briefing Monday, echoing a midnight Sunday tweet. “We have to open our country because that causes problems that, in my opinion, could be far bigger problems.”
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Patrick told Carlson he did not fear the virus, but stay-at-home orders and economic upheaval would destroy the American way of life.
Patrick is a former conservative talk radio show host who was elected to office in 2014. He was the Texas chairman of Trump’s presidential campaign in 2016.
Texas has more than 350 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and nine deaths related to the virus. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has resisted calling a stay-at-home order for all of Texas but local officials in Dallas and San Antonio have.
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