The Texas senator responds to criticism and assures that he is back to his state, still with an energy crisis derived from extreme weather.
CANCUN Mexico (Agencies) – While his state remained paralyzed Thursday by a winter storm, Texas Senator Ted Cruz flew to Cancun to take his family on vacation, drawing criticism from members of both political parties and possibly hurting his political ambitions.
“Wanting to be a good father, I traveled with them last night and am flying back this afternoon,” Cruz said in a statement. Cruz said he was on his way back to Texas. He noted that he only “accompanied” his family to Mexico the day before after his daughters asked him to go on a trip with friends since classes were suspended for the rest of the week.
“Wanting to be a good dad, I traveled with them last night and am flying back this afternoon,” Cruz wrote. “My staff and I are in constant communication with state and local authorities to get to the bottom of what happened in Texas,” he asserted. “We want our electricity back, our water back, and our homes warm again.”
Ted Cruz travels to Cancun as Texas suffers from the power outage
Cruz spoke about his trip hours after The Associated Press and other media outlets reported that he had flown to Cancun on Wednesday, as hundreds of thousands of Texans continue to deal with the havoc wreaked by a winter storm that knocked out power in the state.
"It was obviously a mistake. In hindsight, I wouldn't have done it. I was trying to be a Dad," Sen. Ted Cruz says after receiving criticism for flying to Mexico with his family during a major winter storm in Texas. pic.twitter.com/y8x22DxTgA
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) February 19, 2021
The statement did little to quell criticism in a context in which Cruz intends to seek the Republican presidential nomination again in 2024. He was already one of the most criticized Republicans in Congress, having made opponents from across the political spectrum in a race defined by far-right policies and disputes with his party’s leadership.
