Press Release

Today, Friday, April 15, DFL Party Chairman Ken Martin released the following statement in reaction to remarks by Scott Jensen, who argued that including people with diabetes and other serious health conditions in Minnesota’s COVID-19 death data “skews” the numbers – and that the numbers need to be audited.

Jensen offered the example of a 75-year old with diabetes and emphysema and said that including them in the COVID death count “skews” the data because they would die soon anyway.

“Scott Jensen owes an apology to millions of Minnesotans living with pre-existing conditions like diabetes.” said DFL Party Chairman Ken Martin. “Dismissing them like this is unacceptable for a candidate running for governor. Minnesotans deserve a governor who will protect their public health, not one who writes off sick Minnesotans as expendable.”

The clip of Jensen’s remarks is available here and a link to the full Facebook live video is available here (the remarks in question begin at ~11:09).

Jensen said, “If you take John Doe, and he’s 75 years old, and he has fragile diabetes and emphysema — if he gets COVID-19, yes, COVID-19 could take his life. But based on actuarial studies, his lifespan might only have been two or three more years. That’s one way things were skewed.”