Texas mayor resigns after telling ‘lazy’ residents to “sink or swim”

• Tim Boyd, then-mayor of Colorado City, Texas, insensitively remarked that the people who are complaining amid power outages and freezing temperatures in the state are just looking for a “handout.”
• He added that the government owes them nothing and that “only the strong will survive.”
• His statements drew widespread backlash, prompting his resignation.

As Texas residents get desperate to seek warmth amid freezing temperatures and power outages, then Colorado City mayor Tim Boyd made an insensitive statement saying “only the strong will survive and the weak will [perish.]”

Boyd stated, “No one owes you [or] your family anything; nor is it the local government’s responsibility to support you during trying times like this! Sink or swim it’s your choice! The City and County, along with power providers or any other service owes you NOTHING!”

He added that the people complaining are simply “looking for a damn handout.”

Contradicting official advisories to stay inside, Boyd told people to stop waiting around being “lazy” and to “think outside the box to survive” and provide for their families.

He concluded, “Bottom line quit crying and looking for a handout!! DONT [be] PART OF PROBLEM, BE A PART OF THE SOLUTION!!” 

His post has since been deleted, but it was already spread across social media platforms, causing widespread backlash.

Boyd later announced his resignation in another Facebook post explaining that his previous statement was only referring to “those folks that are too lazy to get up and fend for themselves but are capable.”

“I would never want to hurt the elderly or anyone that is in true need of help to be left to fend for themselves… I apologize for the wording and some of the phrases that were used!” he wrote.

He added that he had not been speaking as an official of Colorado City or Mitchell County. He stated that even his wife was “fired” after his comments and that he had not signed up to run again for mayor.

The winter storm in Texas this week has left 17 dead and almost 3 million homes and businesses without electricity as of Wednesday morning.

Source: CBS News