Cruz says he went on trip amid storm “to be a good dad”

DALLAS» Texas Sen. Ted Cruz took his family on vacation to Cancun, Mexico, this week as his home state was paralyzed by a deadly winter storm, drawing criticism from leaders in both parties and potentially damaging his political ambitions.

In a statement Thursday, the Republican senator said he was returning to Texas. He accompanied his family to Mexico a day earlier, he said, only 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 wrote.

“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 The Associated Press and other 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.

The statement did little to quell a fierce political backlash that comes as Cruz eyes a second presidential run in 2024. He already is one of the most villainized Republicans in Congress, having created adversaries across the political spectrum in a career defined by far-right policies and fights with the 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 this month.

Even the state Republican Party chief declined to come to Cruz’s defense on Thursday.

“That’s something that he has to answer to his constituents about,” Texas GOP Chairman Allen West said when asked whether Cruz’s travel was appropriate.

“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.”