texas in crisis

Beto O'Rourke is organizing wellness checks for seniors during Texas' blackouts. Ted Cruz is in Cancun.

February 18, 2021

.polaris__post-meta--date { display: none; } .polaris__post-meta--date.no-script { display: block; padding-left: 45px } February 18, 2021

Beto O'Rourke and CNN's Anderson Cooper.

Screenshot/CNN on Twitter.

Beto O'Rourke is back is the spotlight as Texas continues to face a statewide crisis.

Hundreds of thousands of Texans remain without power Thursday morning as millions more deal with burst pipes and other consequences of unprecedented winter weather. O'Rourke, the former 2020 Democratic presidential and 2018 Texas Senate candidate, has been making the TV rounds to call out the Republicans who've shifted the blame for the power shortages — and is organizing to check in on senior citizens throughout it all.

On Wednesday night, O'Rourke announced he and volunteers had made more than 150,000 wellness calls to seniors throughout the state. And in an interview with CNN, he called out Republicans, including Gov. Greg Abbott (R), who have inaccurately placed most of the blame for the power failures on Texas' renewable energy sources.

"There has been complete Republican control of the state of Texas for 20 years."Former presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke dismisses Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's claim that renewable energy is responsible for power shortages during the winter storm in Texas. pic.twitter.com/vGg2LukFK5
— CNN (@CNN) February 18, 2021

O'Rourke also addressed last month's attack on the Capitol when speaking to MSNBC on Thursday morning. The U.S. needs to "hold those responsible accountable," including "the junior senator from the state of Texas, who I understand is vacationing in Cancun right now while people are literally freezing to death in the state that he was elected to represent." A GOP source confirmed to Fox News that photos of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and his family boarding a plane Wednesday night "speak for themselves."