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Rick Perry says Texans would rather be without power than face federal regulation — and the backlash is fierce
Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

Rick Perry says Texans would rather be without power than face federal regulation — and the backlash is fierce

The power grid failed and forced millions to brave the cold without electricity

Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry suggested that Texans would rather be without electricity for a few days than face expanding federal regulation, but many of his former constituents took to social media to furiously disagree.

Perry made the comments Wednesday in a blog post on the website for House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).

"Texans would be without electricity for longer than three days to keep the federal government out of their business," Gov. Perry said. "Try not to let whatever the crisis of the day is take your eye off of having a resilient grid that keeps America safe personally, economically, and strategically."

Perry was responding, according to the blog post, to some on the left who were looking at the crisis in Texas as an opportunity to "expand their top-down, radical proposals."

He went on to explain why the crisis in Texas was evidence that they could not depend on solar and wind energy in the future.

"We need to have a baseload. And the only way you can get a baseload in this country is [with] natural gas, coal, and nuclear," he said.

Perry's comments mirror those from Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas), who concluded on Tuesday, "Bottom line: fossil fuels are the only thing that saved us. They are *base load* energy."

The comments from Perry were met with angst and anger from many suffering from the lack of power during historically frigid conditions.

"Just got a note from a friend whose uncle died of hypothermia last night in Dallas. Her family and hundreds of thousands of others beg to differ," replied Houston Chronicle columnist Chris Tomlinson.

"So our leaders believe we're willing to die to protect Texas businesses and freeze to keep the feds away from the power companies? What other sacrifices do they have in mind for us?" said Austin reporter Fred Cantu.

"I thought I was going to die at 4am. I was cold to the touch and couldn't bring my temperature up despite wearing 2 thermal leggings + 1 thermal shirt and 2 really warm sweaters. (Add in 2 San Marcos blankets). The temperature in my room was 20f I don't want this ever again," tweeted Kassandra Aleman, a Democrat activist.

"My grandmother in Austin had to drive to a nearby town to stay with relatives because even though their power is out, too, at least they have a fireplace to keep everyone warm. Rick Perry can go to hell," replied Charlotte Clymer, a liberal transgender activist.

On Wednesday morning, 3 million Texans awoke to face the bitter cold without power. Some reports say as many as 20 people have already died because of the crisis.

Perry was once considered a front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination and later served as Secretary of Energy under the Trump administration.

Here's more about the energy crisis in Texas:

Millions suffer through deep freeze without power l GMAwww.youtube.com

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