“Cruz is emblematic of what the Texas Republican Party and its leaders have become: weak, corrupt, inept, and self-serving politicians who don’t give a damn about the people they were elected to represent,” Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa said in a statement. His political opponents hustled to use the Cancun flight against him. Cruz urged Texans during a Monday radio interview to “just stay home” as the winter weather was bearing down on the state. Meanwhile, winter storms have pummeled cities across Texas all week, leaving millions of residents unable to heat their homes or buy food. The Senate is on a scheduled recess this week, with many senators returning to work in their home states. Cruz’s arrival” at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport. A spokesperson for the Houston Police Department confirmed that a member of Cruz’s staff contacted the department Wednesday afternoon and requested law enforcement “assistance upon Sen. In an earlier statement, Cruz said he and his staff “are in constant communication with state and local leaders to get to the bottom of what happened in Texas.”Ĭruz’s office was apparently planning for the trip ahead of time. Texas in particular has been starving for resources from the federal government in the aftermath of the storms, which have caused severe damage to the state’s infrastructure and electric grids. Chris Christie of New Jersey - about the apparent double standard. But when Hurricane Harvey hit Texas in 2017, Cruz led the charge for an emergency spending bill to help his state and faced questions from fellow lawmakers - as well as then-GOP Gov. When Hurricane Sandy battered the northeast in 2012, he vocally opposed a relief package to help those states rebuild, blasting it as a “Christmas tree” filled with unnecessary spending. Senators in particular play critical roles, helping to coordinate work between the federal government and state and local municipalities while mobilizing their powerful constituent services arms.Ĭruz, however, has stumbled before during weather-related emergencies. “Anyone can or want to leave for the week?” Heidi Cruz asked, noting that hotels had openings and sharing the family’s flight itinerary.Ĭruz’s counterpart in the Senate, John Cornyn, has been directing Texans to resources including shelters and food banks - and even re-tweeted a user who wrote a subtle contrast to Cruz: “Meanwhile, Twitter feed is full of helpful news and resources for Texas.”Īlthough nobody disputed that Cruz’s travels were politically risky, some Cruz allies, like Donald Trump Jr., defended him by suggesting that senators have little power when it comes to “localized disasters.”īut lawmakers are typically eager to show their faces when their constituents are dealing with natural disasters or other tragedies - not only to show their commitment to voters, but to help lead response and recovery efforts. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts | Subscribe on Google Podcasts She asked neighbors and friends in a group text conversation whether they were interested in joining them on their trip. Text messages shared with POLITICO showed Heidi Cruz bemoaning the “FREEZING” temperatures after their house lost power earlier in the week. He told the local ABC station in Houston that he made a “mistake,” and later told Sean Hannity on Fox News that he ultimately came to the conclusion that “you need to be here on the ground.” He said his intention was to “work remotely” from Cancun through the weekend. He left Texas as his constituents were dealing with unprecedented power outages and sub-freezing temperatures stemming from a series of devastating and ongoing winter storms, and Cruz decided to return home early after the backlash materialized. The flap began Wednesday night, when photos surfaced on social media of Cruz waiting in line to board a flight from his home airport in Houston with his wife, Heidi, and their daughters. His explanation quickly became its own social media punch line, with one House Democrat tweeting wryly that he needed to take his daughters to Cancun “so I can be a good father.” For a 2016 White House contender widely viewed as a potential 2024 hopeful, the mostly tight-lipped response from Cruz’s fellow Republicans underscored his long-standing status as one of the more polarizing figures in the Senate GOP. He later acknowledged that his trip was booked through the weekend. He initially did not clarify whether he had always intended the trip to last less than 24 hours, saying only that he “wanted to be a good dad” and “drop off” his daughters in Cancun. When he finally addressed the furor earlier Thursday, Cruz said he flew to Cancun to accompany his daughters at their request and was flying back to the U.S.
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