» Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick blames economic fallout on “wrong science,” and conservative groups plot protests.
Lieutenant governor blames economic woes on use of ‘wrong numbers,’ ‘wrong science’
AUSTIN — Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick says the country never should have been locked down and is blaming the “wrong numbers” and “wrong science” for devastating the state and national economies.
“Our country should not have been locked down,” Patrick, a Republican from Montgomery County, said in a Fox News interview late Monday.
It’s yet another example of Patrick,
the No. 2 elected official in Texas, adding to the political pressure on fellow Republican Gov. Greg Abbott as some in the party question the need for shutting down businesses to control the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Patrick did not challenge Abbott directly, but instead took aim at Democratic governors in other states and Democratic-controlled local governments in Texas for imposing restrictive orders.
Still, the two top state officials rarely have voiced such differences in public and the coronavirus response has been a consistent source of tension.
Abbott repeatedly has said he’s relying on “data and doctors” to drive his decisions and doesn’t want to see Texas ease restrictions only to see the virus spread gain momentum again.
Last Friday, Abbott took steps to reopen some retail and health care businesses.
Asked about Patrick’s remarks, Abbott said Tuesday that they’ve been in daily contact.
“We have already begun to accelerate the process, and it’s on a timeline we articulated last week,” he said. “It is a timeline, by the way, that the lieutenant governor
and I have spoken about for some time.”
Agreeing with health experts at every level of the government, Abbott also said: “The reason why it is leveling off is because our fellow Texans have done such a great job of reducing their interactions with others.”
Six days before Abbott issued the stay-at-home order for Texas, Patrick was on a Lubbock radio station saying he was not in favor of “these lockdowns.” And the day before that, he was on Fox News warning against the damage government shutdowns were doing to the economy.
Nearly every governor in the nation has issued such an order.
Abbott reiterated Tuesday that he, too, wants to see Texans head back to work, but is weighing advice from the business sector with that of the medical experts to craft a plan.
Meanwhile, Patrick was casting doubt on the science behind the shutdown.
‘We’re crushing the markets’
In his Monday Fox News appearance with host Tucker Carlson, Patrick, 70, said that at the end of January, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, was saying the virus wasn’t a big issue. Then weeks later, 2 million Americans were predicted to die, Patrick said. Then it was 100,000 to 200,000 deaths. Now it might be under 60,000.
“They told us, Tucker, follow the science,” Patrick said. “Well, what science?”
Patrick said the numbers and science have been wrong.
“But let’s face reality of where we are,” Patrick said. “In Texas, we have 29 million people and 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 business. We’re crushing the markets. We’re crushing this country.”
The number of COVID-19 fatalities estimated for Texas through Aug. 4 has been adjusted downward from 6,000 to less than 1,000 by the Institute for Health
Metrics and Evaluation, which provides data to the White House.
Coronavirus expert Peter Hotez, a professor and dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, says the new estimates show social distancing measures adopted early in the state are working.
“We avoided the horrors they’re suffering in New York and New Jersey because we social-distanced before the virus had gotten here in a significant way,” Hotez said in a Monday interview with Hearst Newspapers. “Early social distancing, before transmission had been going on for a few weeks, really saved parts of Texas, especially Houston.
“Now we have to be careful not to get too complacent. It's too soon to start high-fiving each other. Things could still go wrong.”
Patrick also doubled down Monday on comments he made in late March, when he said he and other seniors would be willing to risk their lives to get the economy back up and running.
Those remarks drew fire from critics including Democratic U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro of San Antonio, who called Patrick “a very troubled man. And dangerous to Texans and Americans.”
Patrick said Monday that there are “more important things than living.” And that, he said, includes making sure the country is saved for his children and grandchildren.
“And I don’t want to die. Nobody wants to die,” Patrick said. “But, man, we’ve got to take some risks and get back in the game and get this country back up and running.”
As Patrick largely blamed Democratic county judges for the restrictions that are stifling business, Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff responded.
“We’re very much in sync with the governor,” he said. “He may use a different phrase, but when he says ‘stay at home,’ it’s basically the same thing that we’re doing. So we’re following a Republican governor’s leadership, and I think he’s made the right decision.”