Texas has been brought to its knees by a devastating ice storm that’s ripped the state’s free-standing power grid apart. Millions of residents are without power, and they’re literally freezing. People are justifiably angry and deserve answers on how this was allowed to happen, and this has led to the resurfacing of poorly aged tweets from Texas politicians, including the much maligned Senator Ted Cruz, who previously mocked California during its past power outages. Last August, Cruz sniped, “California is now unable to perform even basic functions of civilization, like having reliable electricity… Hope you don’t like air conditioning!” Tragically, the situation in Texas is even worse with as least 17 people dead in weather-related incidents over the past few days.
Cruz, who spent the first days of this crippling Texas weather event fuming over being laughed at after he fell for a conservative parody story from the Babylon Bee, has heard all of the mockery being directed his way. He took to Twitter with an uncharacteristic slice of humility.
“I got no defense,” Cruz admitted in a tweet. “A blizzard strikes Texas & our state shuts down. Not good. Stay safe!”
I got no defense. 🤷🏻♂️
A blizzard strikes Texas & our state shuts down. Not good.
Stay safe! https://t.co/kBPGrGHmvI
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) February 17, 2021
Cruz has yet to address being called out for his previous Senate vote about Hurricane Sandy relief after he and fellow Texan senator John Cornyn joined forces requested federal assistance to help battle the current ice storm and the resulting fallout. “Prolonged sub-freezing temperatures, strained energy capacity, and treacherous roadways are just a few of the current dangers faced by all Texans,” Cruz and Cornyn wrote. “In the last three days, there have been 11 crash-related fatalities as road conditions deteriorate. More than 23,000 Texans have lost power, and frozen pipes have impacted water distribution across the state.” The situation has further deteriorated since that writing, and Cruz’s Twitter has taken a time out from his usual beefing to adopt the tone of an elected official. That hasn’t stopped calls for his resignation, however.
Stay safe and please continue to follow the warnings and updates provided by state and local officials. https://t.co/9IdIT1JxXL
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) February 17, 2021