By Tiffany Terrell
During California's early September heatwave, Governor Gavin Newsom has been urging residents of the Golden State to save electricity - warning that the state's power grid could reach the breaking point. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas responded by attacking Newsom during a Wednesday night, September 7 appearance on Fox News, and the far-right GOP senator's comments have been followed by a great deal of mockery and ridicule on Twitter.
Here's a look at what Cruz had to say about Governor Newsom.
Sen. Ted Cruz has been known as "Cancun Cruz" following his visit to the Mexican City amid the devastating winter storm that hit the Lone Star state in February 2021. Residents remained without power and water as the state's power grid failed.
Now Cruz's latest remarks on California's power issues after the triple-digit temperatures were discussed on various social media platforms, including Twitter, and he received massive flak for proving the idiom "pot calling the kettle black".
Cruz's comments opened a platform for Twitter users to point out how he had abandoned his state for Cancun when things went south during the winter storm.
"Mans flew to Cancun when Texas was in a deep freeze. Due to its idiotic power grid. People died. He has no shame.@tedcruz" a tweet read.
Firefighters in California are working to contain wildfires amid a dayslong heat wave, and officials say blistering temperatures and high winds have heightened risk for new fires along the West Coast.
In California, thousands of people were under evacuation orders as a blaze known as the Mosquito Fire east of Sacramento grew, spreading to at least 23,000 acres by Friday morning, according to the Placer County Sheriff's Office.
Officials were bracing for an intense fire season because of California's drought conditions. But experts say the heat wave - likely to be the longest and hottest on record for September - is setting the stage for fires to spread much faster.
Gov. Gavin Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency Thursday for Riverside, El Dorado and Placer counties due to the Fairview and Mosquito fires.