Cruz back in Texas after storm of criticism
CANCUN: US Senator Ted Cruz flew into a storm of criticism after leaving his home state of Texas in the grip of a deadly deep freeze for a family holiday jaunt to the Mexican resort of Cancun he said he took to please his young daughters.
“It was obviously a mistake. In hindsight, I wouldn’t have done it,” the 50-year-old Republican told reporters as he returned to Houston.
Cruz said he had planned to stay through the weekend, but had second thoughts “almost the moment I sat down on the plane”.
In text messages obtained by American Bridge, a Democratic political group, Cruz’s wife Heidi asked neighbours whether they wanted to accompany the family to Cancun.
“Anyone can or want to leave for the week?” she wrote, noting that rooms at the city’s Ritz Carlton cost “$309 plus tax”.
With millions of Texans grappling with the fallout from a ferocious winter storm, Cruz, viewed as a presidential hopeful in 2024, faced condemnation after photos on social media showed him in an airport line, in a passenger lounge, aboard an airliner and leaving Cancun International Airport in Mexico.
Some critics slammed his comments blaming his daughters, aged 10 and 12, for his decision to visit the resort, where the weather was a balmy 26°C on Thursday evening.
The Texas Democratic Party called on him to resign.
White House spokesperson Jen Psaki, speaking before Cruz was spotted at Cancun airport, said tongue-in-cheek: “I don’t have any updates on the exact location of Senator Ted Cruz, nor does anyone at the White House.”
Many of the millions of Texans who lost power for days after a deadly winter blast overwhelmed the electric grid now have it back, but the crisis was far from over in parts of the South with many people lacking safe drinking water.
About 325,000 homes and businesses remained without power in Texas on Thursday, down from about three million a day earlier, though utility officials said limited rolling blackouts were still possible.
Cruz, who ran unsuccessfully for president in 2016, won re-election to the Senate in 2018 by eking out a victory over Democrat Beto O’Rourke by less than 3 percentage points.
He is not due to run again until 2024.