Ted Cruz Mocked After Warning on Space Pirate Threat

It wasn't exactly the Gettysburg Address, but a speech Ted Cruz made at a recent Senate panel meeting certainly caught the internet's attention. "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," the Texan said Tuesday before the Senate Subcommittee on Aviation and Space. Then came his main point: Outer space is a potentially dangerous place, and a powerful Space Force—President Trump's proposed new military branch—is an utter necessity. "Pirates threaten the open seas, and the same is possible in space," Cruz warned, per the BBC.

USA Today notes that although Cruz also talked about more practical considerations, like the rise of satellite technology, it was his "space pirates" remark that soon brought ridicule online—and a complaint from Cruz to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey on Wednesday. Cruz tweeted, "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?" MSNBC's Chris Hayes called it "the saddest tweet I've ever seen," and Cruz had a fiery reply: "May Space Pirates devour your liver," he tweeted, adding a couple of pirate flag emojis for good measure. (More Ted Cruz stories.)