Senator Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, attempted to warn his constituents to prepare for a major winter storm that is producing snowfall, rain and sleet across wide swaths of the Midwest and Southwest only for his efforts to backfire instantly.
Cruz's recommendation that Texans prepare for the storm by stocking such items as warm clothes, blankets, extra batteries, a first-aid kit, and non-perishable food rang hollow, his critics said, reminding him that he is still widely perceived as having abandoned Texans when he went on vacation during a severe winter storm one year ago.
The Senator nonetheless issued these recommendations with no sense of irony whatsoever.
Cruz dealt with 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 that as many as 702 people were killed as a result of the crisis.
Notably, Cruz ultimately refused to take responsibility for his actions.
In an interview shortly after the controversy erupted with conservative radio host Dana Loesch, Cruz blamed criticism on "Trump withdrawal," implying that any and all criticism of his behavior amounted to little more than political histrionics because of former President Donald Trump's absence from the news cycle.
Cruz suggested that Trump "broke the media," accusing media outlets of merely wanting "to engage in political attacks." He 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 that 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.
Cruz's critics were out in full force in the wake of his message and accused him of hyocrisy.
Although Cruz has continued to claim that the idea to go on the trip came from his daughters, his claim has not held up under scrutiny.
The New York Times later published text messages obtained from the inner circle of Cruz and his wife Heidi. They showed that Heidi Cruz messaged her friends to tell them that the Cruz home was “FREEZING” and that the family would be staying with friends to ride out the disaster.
When she asked if anyone wanted to head to Cancún for a week, no one answered.
Cruz later said that his wife was “pissed” about the leaked text messages, adding that those who handed their private communications to reporters should learn to "treat each other as human beings" and "have some degree, some modicum of respect.”
