Former Texas mayor scorns 'weak' blizzard victims for wanting a 'damn handout'

On Tuesday, KTAB reported that Tim Boyd, the now-former mayor of Colorado City, Texas, posted a rant on Facebook attacking victims of the state's freak blizzard as "weak" people who want a "damn handout" from the government.

"The City and County, along with power providers or any other service owes you NOTHING! I'm sick and tired of people looking for a damn handout!" wrote Boyd. "Only the strong will survive and the weak will parish [sic]."

The rare snowstorm in Texas, which rapidly escalated into a statewide emergency, has buried several cities under snow and ice and crippled the power grid, with coal, gas, and nuclear facilities particularly impacted. Multiple people have died and up to 4 million homes in the state have lost power at some point.

In a follow-up post, Boyd defended himself, saying, "I would never want to hurt the elderly or anyone that is in true need of help," but that his remarks were "taken out of context" and he only meant "folks that are too lazy to get up and fend for themselves but are capable."

Boyd added that "I had already turned in my resignation and had not signed up to run for mayor again on the deadline that was February 12th!"