US Sen Ted Cruz Flamed on Twitter over Space Pirate Fears
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US Senator Ted Cruz said in an open Senate hearing this week that US President Donald Trump's plan to form a sixth branch of the US military, the US Space Force, was necessary to combat space pirates, prompting Twitter users to savage him so thoroughly that he complained about it to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey.
Ted Cruz is Concerned about the Threat of Space Pirates
As the chairman of the US Senate Subcommittee on Aviation and Space, Senator Ted Cruz (R-Tx) held a hearing this week on the "Emerging Space Evironment: Operational, Technical, and Policy Challenges," which in and of itself is about as dry as it sounds. Cruz made news however when he raised the specter of space piracy as a reason for creating a sixth branch of the US military, the Space Force, which has been proposed by US President Donald Trump.
"Since the ancient Greeks first put to sea, nations have recognized the necessity of naval forces and maintaining a superior capability to protect waterborne travel and commerce from bad actors," Cruz said. "Pirates threaten the open seas, and the same is possible in space. In this same way, I believe we, too, must now recognize the necessity of a space force to defend the nation and to protect space commerce and civil space exploration."
Since space pirates aren't a real thing and won't be until for another hundred years–if ever–and considering that Ted Cruz is one of the most polarizing political figures in the US, Twitter users couldn't let those comments go unaddressed.
@MTPDaily @chucktodd Ted Cruz first Space Pirate #SpaceForce pic.twitter.com/ADApq9QJYe
— Happy Democrat (@DemocratHappy) May 16, 2019
Ted Cruz watcher #TheMartian and thought Mark Watney Space Pirate was real ? https://t.co/Q1aOPst6EE
— Ranting Engineer (@RantingEngineer) May 17, 2019
Hey, don't mock Ted 'I see Space Pirate people' Cruz. Space Pirates do exist. In space! With 'Pigs in Spaaaaace... with... Spaaaace Pirates, in... Spaaace.' @tedcruz pic.twitter.com/SkrROyrG1N
— Derik Van Derbeken (@derikv) May 17, 2019
Why does Ted Cruz hate Han Solo? ?https://t.co/HK4ff3UZYo
— Rogue NASA (@RogueNASA) May 15, 2019
Even Elon Musk got in on the act.
?☠️
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 15, 2019
Others took issue with Cruz's misunderstanding of historical naval terminology.
Pirates aren’t affiliated with nations sir. I think you mean privateers. Chinese space privateers. Please correct in all future space force related tweets.
— Jesse Cox (@JesseCox) May 16, 2019
After the mockery of Cruz's comments became the Twitter event of the day, Cruz compounded the embarassment by demanding to see Twitter's manager, Jack Dorsey.
Hey @jack how come Twitter’s “moment” quotes all the snarky leftists making fun of my comments, but doesn’t include my tweets in response explaining the real point that NATIONS like China have already developed & tested weapons to destroy satellites? https://t.co/dwkM5ndXj3
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) May 16, 2019
This prompted even usually serious media personalities to chime in.
This is the saddest tweet I’ve ever seen. https://t.co/YztBJuA478
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) May 16, 2019
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