Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick Blames Blacks For COVID-19 Surge

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R-Texas) is facing a backlash from his Thursday night interview with Fox News, where he argued that unvaccinated African Americans are the cause for the recent surge in COVID-19 cases across the country.

On Thursday night, Laura Ingraham of Fox News asked Patrick to share his views on Democrats’ criticism of the Texas handling of growing COVID-19 cases, citing Gov. Greg Abbott‘s (R-Texas) executive order in which he banned the mask mandates in schools.

“The COVID is spreading… particularly, most of the numbers are with the unvaccinated, and the Democrats like to blame Republicans on that,” Patrick responded. “Well, the biggest group in most states are African Americans who have not been vaccinated. The last time I checked, over 90 percent of them vote for Democrats in their major cities and major counties.”

Although the vaccination rates among the black community in Texas remains relatively low, data shows that the state’s highest rates of COVID-19 cases were among the white and Hispanic community. While white people account for 35 percent of the cases, Hispanic people account for up to 35.8 percent of the cases in Texas.

Patrick’s interview went viral on social media. 

In response to criticism, Patrick defended his statement via his Facebook on Friday, blaming Democrats again for “playing politics.”

“Federal and State data clearly indicate that Black vaccination rates are significantly lower than White or Hispanic rates,” he wrote on his Facebook post. “Democrats continue to play politics with peoples’ lives, pandering to rather than serving certain constituencies. Republican leadership will continue to encourage vaccination without mandates in all populations.”