When Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick was asked about the surge in coronavirus cases during a Thursday night appearance on Fox News, the Republican said "African Americans who have not been vaccinated" are "the biggest group in most states" contributing to the spike.
Laura Ingraham had asked Patrick to respond to criticism from Democrats that covid-19 cases and deaths were on the rise in Texas due to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's policies. The governor has resisted public health mandates aimed at mitigating the highly contagious delta variant's spread and announced on Tuesday that he had tested positive for the virus despite being fully vaccinated.
When Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick was asked about the surge in coronavirus cases during a Thursday night appearance on Fox News, the Republican said "African Americans who have not been vaccinated" are "the biggest group in most states" contributing to the spike. Laura Ingraham had asked Patrick to respond to criticism from Democrats that covid-19 cases and deaths were on the rise in Texas due to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's policies. The governor has resisted public health mandates aimed at mitigating the highly contagious delta variant's spread and announced on Tuesday that he had tested positive for the virus despite being fully vaccinated. Patrick acknowledged that "covid is spreading" and that infections are largely among people who have not received the vaccine. "Democrats like to blame Republicans on that," Patrick said. "Well, the biggest group in most states are African Americans who have not been vaccinated. The last time I checked, over 90% of them vote for Democrats in their major cities and major counties." Patrick's comments, one video clip of which had been viewed more than 845,000 times on Twitter as of early Friday morning, drew immediate criticism, with some calling the lieutenant governor's assertion unfounded. His office did not respond to a request for comment late on Thursday.
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