AUSTIN, Texas — Texas’ lieutenant governor said Monday night that the U.S. should get back to work in the face of a global pandemic and that people over the age of 70, who the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says are at higher risk for the coronavirus, will “take care of ourselves.”
Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick made the comments while appearing on Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight. Patrick, 69, went on the program after President Donald Trump said earlier Monday that he wanted the country getting back to business in weeks, not months.
“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 all America loves for your children and grandchildren?’ And if that’s the exchange, I’m all in,” Patrick said. “And that doesn’t make me noble or brave or anything like that. 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. And I want to live smart and see through this, but I don’t want the whole country to be sacrificed.”
Patrick said that his “heart is lifted” by the president’s call to get back to work.
“Let’s get back to work. Let’s get back to living. Let’s be smart about it,” Patrick said. “And those of us who are 70-plus, we’ll take care of ourselves. But don’t sacrifice the country.”
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 replied, “Yeah.”
A spokeswoman for Patrick did not immediately return to an email seeking comment late Monday.
Health experts have made clear that unless Americans continue to dramatically limit social interaction — staying home from work and isolating themselves — the number of infections will overwhelm the health care system, as it has in parts of Italy, leading to many more deaths. While the worst outbreaks are concentrated in certain parts of the country, such as New York, experts warn that the highly infectious disease is certain to spread.
Patrick is a conservative and former talk radio host who was elected to office in 2014. He was the Texas chairman of Trump’s presidential campaign in 2016 and oversees the Texas Senate.