Texas Lt. Gov. says he’d risk his life for American economy to resume during coronavirus
While speaking on Fox News on Monday night, Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said as a senior citizen, he would exchange his life to keep the American economy afloat.
“So my message is that, let’s get back to work, let’s get back to living, let’s be smart about it, and those of us who are 70 plus, we’ll take care of ourselves,” Patrick said on Tucker Carlson’s show. “But don’t sacrifice the country.”
Patrick, who turned 70 last week, said he does not want the economy to collapse because of the coronavirus.
“No one reached out to me and said, as a senior citizen, are you willing to take a chance for your survival in exchange for keeping the America that all America loves for your children and grandchildren? And if that’s the exchange, I’m all in,” Patrick said in the Fox News interview.
“I just think there are lots of grandparents out there in this country like me — I have six grandchildren - that what we all care about and what we love more than anything are those children,” Patrick continued. “And I want to live smart and see through this, but I don’t want the whole country to be sacrificed, and that’s what I see.”
Carlson asked Patrick, “You’re basically saying that this disease could take your life, but that’s not the scariest thing to you? There’s something that would be worse than dying?”
Patrick said yes, and that if restrictions continued for several more months, the economy would collapse.
“I intend to be around a long time on your show, but it’s worth whatever it takes to save the country,” Patrick said.
“The point is, our biggest gift we give to our country and our children and our grandchildren is the legacy of our country, and right now, that is at risk,” Patrick continued. “I feel like, as the president said, the mortality rate is so low, do we have to shut down the whole country for this? I think we can get back to work.”
A senior advisor for Patrick said the following when asked about the interview:
“Lt. Governor Patrick clearly said that everyone should make common sense decisions about their health and people who need to shelter in place should do that. He totally supports what Governor Abbott is doing and he trusts the President’s judgement. The Lt. Governor does not believe coronavirus directives should go on indefinitely and he believes we need to get back to work.”
A clip of the interview went viral on Twitter, garnering thousands of retweets and comments.
This story was originally published March 23, 2020 at 8:52 PM.
