‘I got no defense’: Ted Cruz responds after viral tweet mocking California energy policies resurfaces amid Texas storm

• Sen. Ted Cruz responded to online criticism over a resurfaced tweet Tuesday evening.
• In August, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas mocked California’s “failed energy policies” on Twitter.
• His post resurfaced Tuesday as over 3 million Texans were without electricity during a winter storm.
• Visit the Business section of Insider for more stories.

Sen. Ted Cruz struck a rare conciliatory tone after Twitter users lambasted the Texas senator for a resurfaced August tweet in which he mocked California’s “failed energy policies,” as millions of Texans were left without electricity due to a severe winter storm this past weekend. 

Many accused Cruz of being hypocritical for criticizing California’s power infrastructure following the wildfires and extreme heat waves that plagued the West Coast last summer, when his own state’s infrastructure is also struggling to handle inclement weather.

“I got no defense,” Cruz tweeted Tuesday, following the online critiques. “A blizzard strikes Texas & our state shuts down. Not good.”

—Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) February 17, 2021

In August, Cruz responded to a message from the governor’s office urging Californians to turn off unneeded lights and limit their use of appliances, saying the state was “unable to perform even basic functions of civilization, like having reliable electricity.”

He then accused President Joe Biden, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Vice President Kamala Harris of wanting to make California’s “failed energy policy the standard nationwide.”

“Hope you don’t like air conditioning!” he tweeted last year.

—Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) August 19, 2020

Now, Texas’ power grid has failed, as the state’s infrastructure is unequipped to handle large amounts of ice and snow and freezing temperatures. As of Tuesday evening, more than 3 million Texans were without power, according to the outage tracking site PowerOutage.us.

The power outages and rolling blackouts have affected designated warming centers and shelters. Two men were found dead this week in Texas; their deaths are believed to have been due to exposure to low temperatures.

Insider’s Charles Davis reported Tuesday that there are a number of reasons for the mass power outages across Texas, but the simplest explanation is that the extreme cold has spurred an unprecedented demand for heat, outstripping the state’s ability to provide.

According to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, as the weather has gotten worse, the capacity to generate electricity has diminished.

Despite Cruz’s concession, many were quick to point out that the senator had not actually issued an apology to Californians or the politicians he criticized in his original tweet. Some praised his honesty, while others urged the lawmaker to take legislative action to help the millions across the region affected by the freezing temperatures.

“Stay safe!” he tweeted.