Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick insists the economy must be a paramount consideration during the coronavirus pandemic as some states begin to reopen businesses.
In late March, Patrick sparked outrage after he said some grandparents would be willing to risk a coronavirus illness to protect the livelihoods of their children and grandchildren. During an interview on Tucker Carlson Tonight on Monday, Patrick said he feels “vindicated” from the chaos his remarks caused as some states lay out plans to reopen their economies, including Texas, after more than 22 million people filed unemployment claims since President Trump declared a national emergency.
“I’m sorry that I’m vindicated,” Patrick said. “I wish it hadn’t happened, Tucker. But I’m a small business guy. And I’ve been around the block long enough to see what was going to happen when you start shutting down society and people start losing their paychecks and businesses can’t open and governments aren’t getting revenues and it goes on and on and on.”
He continued, “So, I’m sorry to say that I was right on this, and I’m thankful that we are now, Tucker, finally beginning to open up Texas and other states because it’s been long overdue.”
Patrick pushed back on critics who argue states should be prioritizing the advice of public health officials when determining whether they should reopen or keep stringent social distancing measures in place for longer periods of time.
“They told us to follow the science. Well, what science?” Patrick asked. “I mean, at the end of January, Dr. Fauci, who I have great respect for, said this wasn’t a big issue. Three weeks later, we were going to lose 2 million people. Another few weeks later, it was 100,000 to 200,000. Now, it’s under 60,000,” Patrick said. “And we’ve had the wrong numbers. The wrong science.”
He added, “I don’t blame them, but let’s face reality of where we are. In Texas, we have 29 million people. We’ve lost 495. And every life is valuable, but 500 people out of 29 million and we’re locked down and we’re crushing the average worker. We’re crushing small businesses.”
Patrick urged the country to “take some risk,” adding, “There are more important things than living, and that’s saving this country for my children and my grandchildren.”
[Related: ‘Too tough’: Trump says some governors are taking stay-at-home orders too far]
