7 of the most ridiculous and jaw-dropping things Republicans actually said this week

It’s been another eventful week in the US – with an unprecedented extreme weather event in Texas causing power and water outages, more policy moves from Biden and the fallout from Trump’s second impeachment trial.

Through it all, Republicans have had a lot to say – some of which really has to be heard to be believed. It was a tough call, but here are seven of the most ridiculous things that Republicans have said in the past seven days

1. ‘I was trying to be a dad’  – Ted Cruz

It has not been a good week for Ted Cruz.

Not only did he get caught trying to leave Texas – which was in a state of emergency – he was forced to double back only a day later (so it was basically a lot of hassle for no benefit).

When he was asked why he did it, he basically threw his kids under the bus and said that they had asked him to go on holiday, apparently to Cancun, famously a favourite holiday destination for children under the age of 12.  Cruz has since admitted that the trip was ‘obviously a mistake’, but it’s still not the best look or thing to say.

2. ‘Texans will endure blackouts to keep government out of their business’ – Rick Perry

The former governor of Texas wasn’t exactly covered in glory during the last week either. He wrote a blog post essentially saying that Texans would continue to endure energy and electricity blackouts if it would stymie Democrats’ efforts to combat the climate crisis and transition to green energy.

Right-wing politicians and figures in the US have blamed the energy blackouts on the move to renewable energy in Texas, which doesn’t really exist and has been debunked several times. 

3. “Bottom line: thank God for baseload energy made up of fossil fuels” – Dan Crenshaw

A lot of people who were actually struggling in Texas were probably not grateful for their state’s continued reliance on fossil fuels, but Crenshaw probably didn’t care. 

Representative Dan Crenshaw, a Republican in Texas, didn’t seem to notice that one of the main reasons that Texas had seen so much critical infrastructure buckle was because of an over-reliance on fossil fuels, but instead continued to spout misinformation about the source of the blackouts.

4. “We won the election” – Donald Trump

Trump continued to repeat his lie that he had won the election – and that he was doing well in the polls after his second impeachment trial, which also wasn’t true – when he called into Greg Kelly’s TV show earlier in the week.

The call was ostensibly about Rush Limbaugh, the conservative media personality who had died earlier in the week and who was a Trump supporter, but Trump took the occasion to continue to pretend he had won the election and to insult various people, including Hillary Clinton.

5. “Who says this is storage? These are ready for use” – Lauren Boebert

Congresswoman Lauren Boebert of Colorado  – who’s attracting attention for her right-wing views and her endorsement of conspiracy theories – received a lot of criticism after she did a tv interview where several rifles and guns were visible in the background of her video. 

After people pointed out that the whole set up was pretty dangerous, Boebert said that these guns weren’t being stored, but that they were ready for use.

6. “If passed, the Green New Deal will literally kill people.” – Marjorie Taylor Greene

Greene, also known as the QAnon Congresswoman, has also been the subject of much scrutiny over the last couple of weeks, particularly as her previous life as a prominent conspiracy theorist (including the harassment of young activists) and her views on 9/11 got her removed from several House committees two weeks ago.

Despite the level of scrutiny that she’s come under, Greene has continued to spread disinformation on Twitter, including starting a campaign to impeach Joe Biden under the guise that he’s a security threat to the White House. But this was from a tweet she sent earlier this week railing against the ‘Green New Deal’, a bill that several leftists politicians, such as AOC and Ilhan Omar, have been pushing for.

7. “Ted Cruz should not have apologised” – Matt Gaetz

Everyone has different priorities, but Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida took the time to suggest that Cruz shouldn’t have apologised for his jaunt to Cancun.

This is despite the fact that Cruz himself apologised for the mistake and said that in hindsight, it was obvious that he shouldn’t have travelled. Perhaps Gaetz should take a closer look at what’s happening in his own state before talking about what’s happening elsewhere.

Bonus – Ben Shapiro

Ben Shapiro defended Ted Cruz by suggesting that there’s nothing Cruz could have done while his constituents struggled with a once in a lifetime event, saying that Cruz couldn’t have melted ice on pipelines.  It would be funny if it wasn’t so ridiculous – if a Democratic senator was caught doing anything slightly beyond the pale in an emergency, Shapiro would likely not be taking the same tone.