Cruz says he went on vacation amid storm to be ‘good dad’
DALLAS — With Texas paralyzed by a winter storm, Sen. Ted Cruz took his family on vacation to Cancun, Mexico, drawing criticism from leaders in both parties and potentially damaging his political ambitions.
In a statement Thursday, Cruz said he was returning to Texas. He said he accompanied his family to Mexico a day earlier after his daughters asked to go on a trip with friends, given that school was canceled for the week.
“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,” he continued. “We want our power back, our water on, and our homes warm.”
Cruz addressed his travels only hours after media outlets reported that he had traveled to Cancun on Wednesday, with hundreds of thousands of Texans still grappling with the fallout of a winter storm that crippled the state’s power grid and killed more than three dozen people, some while trying to keep warm.
The statement did little to quell a political backlash that comes as Cruz eyes a second presidential run in 2024.
Cruz was already one of the most villainized Republicans in Congress, having created adversaries across the political spectrum in a political career defined by far-right policies and fights with the political establishment.
More recently, he emerged as a leader in former President Donald Trump’s push to overturn the results of the November election. Billboards calling for his resignation stood along Texas highways earlier in the month.
Even the state Republican Party chair declined to come to Cruz’s defense Thursday.
“That’s something that he has to answer to his constituents about,” Texas GOP Chair Allen West said when asked whether Cruz’s travel was appropriate while Texans are without power and water.
“I’m here trying to take care of my family and look after my friends and others that are still without power,” West said. “That’s my focus.”