Lights, camera – and Dan Patrick flubs the line

Claim that unvaccinated Blacks are fueling the delta surge is wrong, irresponsible

By Dallas Morning News
Editorial Board

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick certainly doesn’t distinguish himself when he dis- cusses the COVID-19 pandemic on national talk shows. The bright lights of a national audience seem to bring out his most cynical political instincts.

As you might recall, in the early days of the pandemic last year, Patrick, in his best impersonation of Patrick Henry, told a Fox News audience that he would rather die from the coronavirus than see overreaction to the pandemic destroy the economy for his grandchildren. “There are more important things than living,” he said in March 2020. “And that’s saving this country for my children and my grandchildren and saving this country for all of us.”

But last week, Patrick found a new level of hyperbole, this time scapegoating Blacks for the surge in new virus infections. “African Americans who have not been vaccinated” are “the biggest group in most states” contributing to the spike, he said during an interview with talk show host Laura Ingraham. And then Patrick doubled down with a political spin. “Democrats like to blame Republicans on that,” he 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.”

So much for accuracy and thoughtful leadership. Words matter, and these from Patrick are wrong and venomous. The unvaccinated account for nearly all of the new infections and deaths and most of those unvaccinated in Texas and the nation are white, not Black. That Patrick doesn’t know or chooses to ignore the facts, represents a brand of dangerous and cynical politics all too common during the already polarized debate over vaccines and the pandemic.

According to national data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, of those who had received at least one dose of the vaccine as of Aug. 16, 58% are white, 10% are Black and 17% are Hispanic. In Texas, 47% of white people are vaccinated compared with 38% of Black people. But since 41% of the population is white and 12% Black, more white people than Black people are unvaccinated. And that’s the national trend, too.

There are severe con- sequences to being unvaccinated, regardless of race and ethnicity, and that should be Patrick’s emphasis, not half-baked racial politics. In Texas, Blacks account for about 15% of COVID-19 cases and about 10% of deaths, while whites account for 32% of cases and 42% of deaths, according to statistics compiled by Kaiser Family Foundation.

Patrick should take a page from Gary Bledsoe, president of the Texas StateConference, who has a much better appreciation of what’s at stake and how to deal with it. “Reach out beyond your political base, reach out to people of all the political persuasions in Texas, all the races and religions, and say, ‘Let’s come together,’ because this is a major problem,” he told The Associated Press.

Finally some common sense.

This editorial was written by the editorial board and serves as the voice and opinion of The Dallas Morning News.