Texas Lt. Gov. Blames The Black Community, Democrats For COVID Spread
Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick has been facing criticism after he falsely claims that Black people and Democrats are to blame for the new wave of coronavirus cases.
On Thursday, Patrick was asked on Fox News to respond to criticisms over his state’s handling of the pandemic.
“The Covid is spreading,” Patrick said, “particularly, most of the numbers are with the unvaccinated and the Democrats like to blame Republicans on that. 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,” Patrick said, adding that it’s up to Democrats and Republicans to get people vaccinated.
Fact Check: According to an analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation, White adults account for the largest share of unvaccinated adults. Black people only make up about 13% of the entire population, which makes Patrick’s claims inaccurate.
Also according to the data, Black people made up over 50% of positive Covid cases in only two of the 35 analyzed places as of August 16: the District of Columbia and Mississippi.
As far as Patrick’s state of Texas, Black people represent 15% of cases, Hispanics 52% and White people 32%.
Check out this more in depth break down via KVUE:
