Ted Cruz channels Donald Trump, gets fact-checked on his Paris-Pittsburgh quip

Former President Trump used this same line when he pulled out of the Paris agreement in 2017:

.@POTUS "I was elected by voters of Pittsburgh, not Paris. I promised I wld exit or renegotiate any deal which fails to serve US interests"

— Kayleigh McEnany 45 Archived (@PressSec45) June 1, 2017

The line is “catchy,” but it’s aged poorly since as Pittsburgh actually embraced the agreement after Trump’s action in 2017:

It's a catchy line, but Pittsburgh decided to voluntarily comply with Paris guidelines in spite of US withdrawal, so https://t.co/MHLH2M360u https://t.co/JwTjBV64Un

— Lachlan Markay (@lachlan) January 21, 2021

Mayor Bill Peduto even had his commitment to the agreement as his pinned tweet up until President Biden’s inuaguration yesterday:

For over 3.5 years, I have pinned this tweet to my account. Over 26M impressions, over 10K cities worldwide joined together. Today, President Biden rejoined the Paris agreement (and I unpinned this tweet from my account :). https://t.co/ppLQZBbKCE

— bill peduto (@billpeduto) January 20, 2021

Also, the line worked better for Trump in 2017 because he won the state in 2016 as opposed to what happened in 2020:

Let's check in on the voters of Pittsburgh https://t.co/5uwlZTXMgO pic.twitter.com/T7VPp1W5gX

— Ryan Rosenblatt, World Series Champion (@RyanRosenblatt) January 21, 2021

Also, this view of Pittsburgh is outdated and doesn’t really exist any longer:

Not sure why the Paris agreement will be bad for Pittsburgh's medicine-and-education-based economy.

But if we're talking the 1900 version of Pittsburgh, it's worth noting that US Steel shares hit a record low in March after two years of Trump's steel tariffs. https://t.co/5D9G8nbwku

— David Fickling (@davidfickling) January 21, 2021

Sen. Cruz has had better takes on the Paris agreement in the past. Such as this one:

I applaud @POTUS for putting American jobs & energy first by withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris Agreement. https://t.co/K3vabFUJq5

— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) June 1, 2017

And this one in 2019 where he chided Nancy Pelosi over it:

🤔
ICYMI @SpeakerPelosi, @realDonaldTrump already made the decision to formally withdraw the US from the Paris Climate Agreement, a job-killing, wage-reducing, economy-crippling Obama-era deal that does nothing to meaningfully decrease global temperatures.https://t.co/5DwNwzJRST

— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) December 2, 2019

Sen. Cruz does have the facts on his side, although it’s the tweet from yesterday which will get all the attention:

Thanks to natural gas and private sector innovation, the U.S. has successfully reduced CO2 emissions and experienced solid economic growth since pulling out of the Paris Climate Agreement. Meanwhile, China & India’s emissions have increased.https://t.co/Hj5jxl4M9h

— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) February 17, 2020

It’s too late for what SHOULD HAVE BEEN DONE, however:

Last night I urged POTUS to submit the Iran Deal & Paris Agreement to the Senate as treaties. By submitting these disastrous deals to the Senate, we can provide advice & consent if a future administration attempts to revive them.

Read my letter 👇 pic.twitter.com/0Qa8Fps5Yb

— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) December 22, 2020

Sigh.

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