The satirical news site The Onion had social media users cackling with its brutal headline mocking Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz for once again being out of the country when Texas was hit by another deadly natural disaster.
Cruz faced considerable national backlash after he flew to Cancún while millions of people went without food and water as a result of the February 2021 Texas power disaster. At least 246 people were killed directly or indirectly; some estimates suggested as many as 702 people were killed as a result of the crisis.
Cruz claimed he went to Cancún to accompany his daughters, an apology that did not sit well with his critics either. He insisted that his only faux pas had been simply "wanting to be a good dad," claiming he'd only accompanied them for a single night before flying back to Texas. However, Cruz’s social media accounts had not acknowledged any official travel.
And this time Cruz was visiting Greece with his family when the Texas floods struck struck over the Fourth of July weekend.
The flash flood diaster has claimed at least 119 lives as of this writing. Among the victims were 27 campers and counselors from Camp Mystic, a Christian summer camp straddling the Guadalupe River. Officials say the death toll is likely to rise as search and rescue efforts continue. At least 160 people are still missing.
Cruz was seen visiting the Parthenon in Athens with his wife, Heidi, on Saturday evening—just a day after Camp Mystic announced that more than 20 girls had gone missing in the floodwaters. At approximately 6 p.m. local time on July 5 (11 a.m. ET), more than 24 hours after the Guadalupe River overflowed, the couple was spotted waiting in line outside the famed historical landmark.
In response, The Onion published the following headline to its social media accounts:
"Ted Cruz: 'Vacationing Is How I Grieve'"
You can see The Onion's post below.
People loved it—and were all too eager to pile on Cruz themselves.
Cruz has not responded to the criticism, but this is merely part of his established pattern. He's probably planning his next trip to Cancún as we speak.
@phillytradesman/Bluesky
