“Let’s Get Back to Work”: Texas Lieutenant Governor Says Shutdown Must End Within Days or Weeks

Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick said Monday night that the coronavirus lockdown that is gripping America should be ended within weeks, not longer.

“I say let’s give this a few more days or weeks but after that let’s go back to work and go back to living. Those who want to shelter in place can still do so. But we can’t live with this uncertainty,” he said on Fox News Monday.

“I don’t pretend to be speaking for everyone 70 plus… But I think there are lots of grandparents who would agree with me that I want my grandchildren to live in the America I did, I want them to have a shot at the American dream.”

“But right now this virus, which all the experts say that 98% of all people will survive… is killing our country in another way: [it] could bring about a total economic collapse and potentially a collapse of our society.”

Patrick is 69 and will turn 70 on April 4. Appearing on-air, he said, “I’m not living in fear of COVID-19. What I’m living in fear of is what’s happening to this country.”

Patrick added, “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.”

“I don’t want the whole country to be sacrificed… we’re having an economic collapse.”

“My message is, 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. But don’t sacrifice the country. Don’t do that, don’t ruin this great American Dream.”

“We’ve got a choice here: We’re going to be in a total collapse — recession, depression — in our society. If this goes on another several months there won’t be any jobs to come back to for many people.”

Patrick’s remarks come after President Trump said at an evening press conference that he hopes the White House guidelines on social distancing will not go on for “months.”

“If it were up to the doctors, they’d say let’s shut down the entire world,” Trump said, as quoted by The New York Times. “This could create a much bigger problem than the problem that you started out with.”

Trump added, “I’m not looking at months, I can tell you right now… This is going away. We’re going to win the battle.”

Patrick’s comments have drawn flak from critics on the left. “Dan Patrick is volunteering as tribute in the coronavirus Hunger Games,” wrote the editor of a D.C.-based left-leaning publication. “Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick is willing to die to save capitalism. I’m ready for capitalism to die,” wrote a progressive activist.

Mike Collier, Patrick’s Democratic opponent in the lieutenant governor race in 2018, said, “Times like this make me wish like anything I had beaten Dan Patrick’s sorry political hide in 2018. This kind of non-leadership could cost Texans their lives!”

“I want the world to know that Dan isn’t speaking for Texans. He is speaking for his bank account.”

Originally published at https://www.honestaustin.com on March 24, 2020.