Sen. Ted Cruz said this week President Donald Trump’s proposed Space Force could be used to combat space pirates.
Then, he got annoyed at Twitter over the ensuing jokes about his plan to take on the threat of galactic buccaneers.
Cruz began by noting the longtime historical need for naval forces to provide protection at sea from “bad actors,” according to The Hill.
Then, he said:
“Pirates threaten the open seas, and the same is possible in space. In this same way, I believe we too must now recognize the necessity of a Space Force to defend the nation and to protect space commerce and civil space exploration.”
Needless to say, the idea of space pirates took off on social media, with plenty of jokes ensuing as “Space Pirates” trended on Twitter. But Cruz didn’t see the humor in it, and even complained to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey about a Twitter Moment capturing the quips:
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? https://t.co/dwkM5ndXj3
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) May 16, 2019
He also complained about a joke on “Meet the Press” about space pirates:
Sure, a frigate w/ skull & crossbones in space is unlikely anytime soon, but what MSNBC conveniently omits is the threat of piracy, espionage & violence from rogue & rival NATIONS is very real. Indeed, China has already developed & tested weapons to destroy satellites in space. https://t.co/fVUZUeWVLj
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) May 15, 2019
MSNBC’s Chris Hayes called Cruz’s complaint to Dorsey “the saddest tweet I’ve ever seen.”
Cruz replied:
May Space Pirates devour your liver. 🏴☠️ 🏴☠️
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) May 16, 2019
But none of that stopped the jokes. In fact, it only increased them as Twitter critics not only mocked his space pirate threat, but also his complaints over the jokes:
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Senator Ted Cruz thinks those of us concerned about climate change are alarmist, but he’s adamant that the nation invest in protection against space pirates https://t.co/aq1VL1kHhs
— Katie Mack (@AstroKatie) May 15, 2019
Is “Space Pirates” the name of the porno clip Ted Cruz liked?
Cuz I think this lady was definitely observing an probe of Uranus … pic.twitter.com/H9iYIkYq5P
— #ImpeachBarr! (@TheMominatrixx) May 16, 2019
Pirates aren’t affiliated with nations sir. I think you mean privateers. Chinese space privateers. Please correct in all future space force related tweets.
— Jesse Cox – Ruining Your Waifus in Monster Prom 2 (@JesseCox) May 16, 2019
The best worst thing about 2019 is we have senators talking about Space Force fighting Space Pirates and I actually hate everything about it, thankshttps://t.co/TJUQc2qbUk
— This Is Not A Thom Dunn T-Shirt (@thomdunn) May 15, 2019
Ted Cruz argues that Space Force is necessary because… wait for it… space pirates. Leave it to Cruz to take a dumb Trump idea and make it sound even dumber. pic.twitter.com/xjjItA3EV3
— Adam Best (@adamcbest) May 15, 2019
Hey @jack, I toured Twitter HQ & didn’t see a snarky leftist dept. Where you hiding the millions of employees you must need to monitor all Republicans just so you can mess them up?
Also, are you scared of space pirates like Sen Cruz? And can you give this post lots of retweets? https://t.co/4juntAILma
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) May 16, 2019
Running to my computer to work up a pitch for ‘Ted Cruz vs the Space Pirates of the Seven Galaxies’ right now. https://t.co/nEd6WPkBaz
— Christopher Tillman (@christophertill) May 15, 2019
Hello, is this the internet? I need to speak with a manager.
— Tim Robbins ⚾️ (@HandonthePlow) May 16, 2019
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Long John Silver – Treasure Island
Ragnar Danneskjöld – Atlas Shrugged
Dread Pirate Roberts – The Princess Bride
The Salé Rovers – Robinson Crusoe
William Legrand and Captain Kidd – The Gold-Bug
Ahab – Moby Dick
This article originally appeared on HuffPost.