Texas Senator Ted Cruz is cutting his long-awaited vacation plans short after taking heat for heading to Mexico while many of his fellow Texans are still without water or power amid this winter storm.
Sources with the Associated Press and Fox News on Thursday have confirmed KSAT reporting about the senator’s trip to Mexico.
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Cruz is expected to return to Texas on Thursday, one day after travelers photographed him at the airport.
Several people on social media, including fellow Texans, roasted Cruz for his trip to the Mexican hotspot while the Lone Star State fights this freeze.
Here’s what they had to say:
Please don’t spread misinformation! Ted Cruz flew to Cancún. pic.twitter.com/3j72qXGG0K
— Joaquin Castro (@JoaquinCastrotx) February 18, 2021
In crises like these, members of Congress play a critical role connecting their constituents to emergency services and assistance. @tedcruz should be on the phone with federal agencies, not on a trip to Mexico. https://t.co/bjbehcaAwi
— Julián Castro (@JulianCastro) February 18, 2021
MISSING:Ted Cruz pic.twitter.com/D3boCFNG2s
— The Good Liars (@TheGoodLiars) February 18, 2021
Some have pointed out the hypocrisy of the senator’s travels amid a crisis.
Lest we forget.
— Ken Herman (@kherman) February 18, 2021
Ted Cruz in December. pic.twitter.com/J777X6GCMm
“Sen. Ted Cruz savaged New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie this week after he criticized Cruz's request for federal aid in response to Hurricane Harvey, telling the Republican governor to "go back to the beach." https://t.co/uy9hMsuRwt
— Jonathan Lemire (@JonLemire) February 18, 2021
This was inevitable pic.twitter.com/mRVoawvUQz
— Steven Lemongello (@SteveLemongello) February 18, 2021
Conservative commentators have defended Cruz, saying he cant singlehandedly save Texas from the outages.
What could @tedcruz do if he were here in Texas? I’m hard-pressed to say. If he’s in Cancun, that means he’s not using up valuable resources of energy, food and water that can now be used by someone else. This is probably the best thing he could do for the state right now
— Dinesh D'Souza (@DineshDSouza) February 18, 2021
Not sure I see the problem with Ted Cruz going to Cancun. What the hell do you want him to do? Grab a toolkit and go fix the power grid himself? Silly outrage.
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) February 18, 2021
Several responses to those defenses mentioned Cruz’s former opponent, Beto O’Rourke, who led a phone bank to reach out to senior citizens needing help weathering the storm.
“What could Ted Cruz have done?”
— Steve Marmel (@Marmel) February 18, 2021
Um... look to Beto, Dinesh.
I’m surprised he didn’t try to blame windmills.#CancunCruz pic.twitter.com/QDelgxZDob
After word spread of Cruz’s vacation, sources say the senator will now come back to the state Thursday.
Here’s the upgrade list for this afternoon’s flight from Cancun to Houston.
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) February 18, 2021
Looks like @tedcruz is on his way back, @danpfeiffer. He’s just narrowly missing the upgrade list
That’s assuming that “cru, r” is him. And I do. pic.twitter.com/CqfKa5rJfG
Cruz broke his silence on the matter Thursday shortly after noon, acknowledging that this past week was an “infuriating” one for Texans. He returned to the Lone Star State on Thursday as well.
“Our homes are freezing and our lights are out. Like millions of Texas, our family lost heat and power too.”
Cruz went on to explain that his daughters wanted to take a trip to Cancun with their friends.
“Wanting to be a good dad, I flew down with them last night and am flying back this afternoon,” Cruz said. “My staff and I are in constant communication with state and local leaders to get to the bottom of what happened in Texas. We want our power back, our water on and our homes warm. My team and I will continue using all our resources to keep Texans informed and safe.”
Cruz said in an interview with ABC News that as news broke of his trip to Cancun broke, it became more of an outrage, prompting his return.
“It became a bigger and bigger fire storm, it became all the more compelling that I needed to come back. Our priority should be fixing this problem and making sure it doesn’t happen again. And I didn’t want all the screaming and yelling about this trip to distract even one moment from the real issues that I think Texans care about, which is keeping all of our families safe,” he added.
The trip did not sit well with the Texas Democratic Party. Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa said he wasn’t surprised, but disturbed by Cruz’s trip.
“Ted Cruz had already proven to be an enemy to our democracy by inciting an insurrection. Now, he is proving to be an enemy to our state by abandoning us in our greatest time of need,” Hinojosa said. “For the 21st time, the Texas Democratic Party calls on Ted Cruz to resign or be expelled from office.”