After days of a historic winter storm that hit Texas, a viral screenshot spread on social media shows a 2016 tweet by U.S. Senator Ted Cruz that reads: “I would believe in climate change if Texas was frozen.” However, there is no evidence that Cruz ever tweeted it or made such a statement.
The claim gained traction on social media after Cruz received a storm of criticism on February 18 after leaving his home state of Texas in the grip of the deadly freezing point for a family vacation in the Mexican resort of Cancun (here).
The screenshot of the tweet was apparently sent from the account @tedcruz and bears the timestamp 8 September 2016 17:44. It can be seen on Twitter ( here ), Facebook (here, here) and Instagram (here, here).
Reuters found no record of this alleged tweet in 2016. The tweet is not visible on Twitter search if we are looking for tweets sent around September 8, 2016 (bit.ly/3sgxv2N). Politwoops, a ProPublica project that removes archives of tweets from politicians, also shows no record of the alleged tweet, suggesting that it was probably fabricated recently (here).
A search for the words ‘climate change’ in its timeline has yielded three tweets, none of which fit this quote (bit.ly/3s6NGzx).
Reuters also reviewed Cruz’s other Twitter account, @SenTedCruz, and found no such tweet (bit.ly/3k3zCnD, bit.ly/2Zy1TJG).
The earliest version of the quote Reuters was able to find was posted on Twitter on February 16, 2021 at 7:36 ET, without any attribution to Cruz. A user ( here ) tweeted: “I swear I’ve heard someone say I’ll believe in climate change if Texas freezes. Well, I’m in Texas. It’s frozen. ”
In the past, Cruz has argued that scientific evidence does not support global warming (here, here, here, here).
Some memes circulating on social media with the alleged quote carry a label of “satire” (see right bottom corner here ), which further indicates that the tweet is not authentic.
The Ted Cruz office did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
VERDICT
Untrue. Tweet by Ted Cruz saying “I will believe in climate change if Texas freezes” seems to be fabricated.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our work to actually check social media posts.