‘More Important Things Than Living’: TX Lt. Gov. Sticks To Morbid Pitch For Saving Economy

Texas Sen. Dan Patrick of Houston speaks in the Texas Senate chamber where he will take over as Lt. Governor of Texas on January 12, 2015. (Photo by Robert Daemmrich Photography Inc/Corbis via Getty Images)
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Believe it or not, Texas Lieutenant Gov. Dan Patrick (R) is actually sticking to his pro-death solution to fixing the economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Claiming that he was “vindicated” by businesses being shut down by states’ stay-at-home orders, Patrick said on Monday night during a Fox News interview that the new plan to reopen Texas businesses was “long overdue.”

The Texas leader then doubled down on his grim argument for allowing people to be put at risk of death from COVID-19 to help the economy recover from the damage brought on by the outbreak – a proposal that was immediately met with a flood of criticism.

“What I said when I was with you that night is there are more important things than living,” Patrick told Fox News host Tucker Carlson, referring to when he first made the suggestion last month. “And that’s saving this country for my children and my grandchildren and saving this country for all of us.”

“And I don’t want to die, nobody wants to die,” he added. “But man we’ve got to take some risks and get back in the game and get this country back up and running.”

Patrick brushed off warnings from White House COVID-19 task force official Dr. Anthony Fauci and other health experts who say that it’s too soon to reopen the economy and that doing so at this moment would undermine the progress made in flattening the curve.

“They told us, Tucker, to follow the science,” the lieutenant governor said. “Well, what science?”

Watch Patrick below:

Latest News

Notable Replies

  1. “What science?”

    The science that you just talked about? Just how dumb is this guy?

  2. “They told us, Tucker, to follow the science,” the lieutenant governor said. “Well, what science?”

    Maybe read up on the 1918 flu epidemic? I hear there are volumes written about it, ya fucking moran.

  3. “What Science” is the theme of the Republican National Convention.

    Followed five weeks later by “”What, a ventilator”

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

431 more replies

Participants

Avatar for daveminnj Avatar for jw1 Avatar for littlegirlblue Avatar for mondfledermaus Avatar for trnc Avatar for steviedee111 Avatar for 26degreesrising Avatar for lastroth Avatar for gr Avatar for cd Avatar for stradivarius50t3 Avatar for darrtown Avatar for thunderclapnewman Avatar for tena Avatar for jinnj Avatar for castor_troy Avatar for coimmigrant Avatar for dannydorko Avatar for seamus42 Avatar for rascal_crone Avatar for arawak Avatar for filmknight Avatar for kovie Avatar for HBryan

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: