“Are you kidding me? Here we go again…”

That was Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto’s reply to Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, after the senator evoked a familiar refrain Wednesday during criticism of President Joe Biden’s signing of an executive order to rejoin the Paris Climate Accord.

Are you kidding me? Here we go, again... https://t.co/3WDuRqHFyX

— bill peduto (@billpeduto) January 21, 2021

Cruz said the newly-sworn in Biden is “more interested in the views of the citizens of Paris than in the jobs of the citizens of Pittsburgh.”

The agreement, which aims to curb global warming, was signed near Paris in 2015; it wasn’t tailor-made for Parisians.

The Paris Climate Agreement also has nothing to do with the personal views of Parisians...

— Qaylun Sunderji (@QaylunSunderji) January 21, 2021

According to Cruz, rejoining the pact would result in the loss of 400,000 American manufacturing jobs.

By rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement, President Biden indicates he’s more interested in the views of the citizens of Paris than in the jobs of the citizens of Pittsburgh. This agreement will do little to affect the climate and will harm the livelihoods of Americans.

— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) January 20, 2021

Cruz also said Biden and fellow Democrats are simply planning to “destroy jobs they don’t like and cede control of our energy future to other countries.”

In the summer of 2017, then-President Donald Trump infamously said “I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris,” when he decided to pull the United States out of the agreement.

His angle, it appeared, was to frame the decision as an act of solidarity with the Rust Belt voters who helped deliver him the presidency the year before.

Peduto, saying he was personally offended by the statement, notoriously clapped back, calling the Steel City a “poster child” for how a city can rebuild its economy through high-tech, environmentally friendly initiatives.

“As the Mayor of Pittsburgh, I can assure you that we will follow the guidelines of the Paris Agreement for our people, our economy & future,” Peduto tweeted.

As the Mayor of Pittsburgh, I can assure you that we will follow the guidelines of the Paris Agreement for our people, our economy & future. https://t.co/3znXGTcd8C

— bill peduto (@billpeduto) June 1, 2017

On Thursday Cruz took to Twitter again to invoke Pittsburgh as a symbol of blue-collar workers. He is offering “free” bumper stickers — though personal information like name, address, email and phone number are collected to get the sticker.

Who do you stand with? Paris or Pittsburgh?

If you support blue-collar union workers, if you stand for jobs, get your free bumper sticker here: https://t.co/WS98mc41SZ pic.twitter.com/Xm7aDSIv4Z

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) January 21, 2021

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