Senator Ted Cruz just got a hard lesson in why you should never politicize, joke about, mock, or take glee in a natural disaster.
Last summer, as wildfires raged across the state of California, the antigay senator from Texas trolled Governor Gavin Newsom’s office for urging residents to conserve electricity during an extreme heat wave that caused widespread power outages across the state and resulted in several deaths.
In a derisive tweet, Cruz described California as “unable to perform even basic functions of civilization, like having reliable electricity.” Then he bashed Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, as well as the Biden-Harris presidential ticket, for their “failed energy policy.”
“Hope you don’t like air conditioning!” he scoffed.
California is now unable to perform even basic functions of civilization, like having reliable electricity.
Biden/Harris/AOC want to make CA’s failed energy policy the standard nationwide.
Hope you don’t like air conditioning! https://t.co/UkKBq9HkoK
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) August 19, 2020
Now, in an awkward turn of events, the power grid in Texas is tapped out due to a higher-than-average demand for heat and electricity after heavy snowfall, ice, and freezing temps.
According to the outage-tracking site PowerOutage.us, over 3 million Texans were still without power as of yesterday. The state has also had to resort to rolling blackouts in an effort to ease the strain on the overwhelmed system.
It didn’t take long for people to call out Cruz for his hypocrisy in bashing California’s power infrastructure when his own state’s infrastructure has proven insufficient during an extreme weather event.
Shockingly, rather than snap back at his critics, Cruz struck a rare compunctious tone.
“I got no defense,” he tweeted in response. “A blizzard strikes Texas & our state shuts down. Not good. Stay safe!”
We gotta say, Ted Cruz eating crow after mocking an entire state for being hit with a natural disaster is almost as satisfying as the time he had to issue a statement about why he liked a bisexual adult video on Twitter on 9/11.
But if he thought atoning for his past hypocrisy would silence critics, he was very much mistaken. People only continued to rail against Cruz for his failed leadership and all around horribleness…
think how much more prepared the state could’ve been if its two senators did more than just compete to own the libs all day
— shauna (@goldengateblond) February 17, 2021
Do you hear @GavinNewsom making fun of your state when your residents are suffering, Ted? I don’t either.
— Blue Girl (@BlueGirlRules1) February 17, 2021
The problem isn’t the blizzard, Ted. Other states dealt fine with that. It’s the lack of regulation & interconnection with other grids, the underinvestment, and atrocious planning for a foreseeable scenario.
— Autarkh (@Autarkh) February 17, 2021
Maybe you should spend less time kissing Trump’s ass and more time fixing things in the state you represent.
— lisastark35 (@lisastark351) February 17, 2021
That’s what you should have said about unconstitutionally lying about election fraud.
— Karen Piper (@PiperK) February 17, 2021
And you voted against relief for NY and New Jersey after Super Storm Sandy! Do as I say not as I do right Ted?
— Andrea (@AndreaPunksmom) February 17, 2021
No one asked for a defense. They asked for you to do your job.
— Just Tracy (@just_tracytracy) February 17, 2021
Ted Cruz’s response to his constituents freezing, without power or water is pic.twitter.com/j6rfKq4t1f
— Lab⭕️mski 🪕 (@12ozPoet) February 17, 2021
Texas needs better leaders – ones who don’t deny climate change
— Christine Galea (@chrisgalea) February 17, 2021
You’d think the real patriots would be out there braving the cold weather and treacherous conditions to support local businesses instead of caving in to this lockdown situation. Right?
— CallMeDaisy-Doctorate in Locker Room Talk (@SkepBy) February 17, 2021
Graham Gremore is the Features Editor and a Staff Writer at Queerty. Follow him on Twitter @grahamgremore.
