Senator Ted Cruz responded sharply to critics after being called out for traveling to California for a business trip just days before a severe winter storm was set to hit Texas.
The Republican senator clarified that he returned home to Texas on Friday after facing backlash, particularly following the circulation of a viral photo showing him on a United Airlines flight to California. This incident echoed the controversy from nearly five years ago when he was criticized for flying his family to Mexico during another winter storm.
“I’m back from a business trip,” the 55-year-old politician noted in a tweet that included a photo of him with his hand raised toward the sky.
“It’s 66 degrees and a beautiful day. There’s a storm predicted tomorrow night. But Twitter has made it clear that all I need to do is touch Texas soil and the storm will magically change to sunshine and rainbows,” he added, somewhat sarcastically.
Cruz was spotted on Tuesday standing in the aisle of a plane en route to Laguna Beach, and the image quickly prompted a flurry of social media reactions, with many drawing parallels to his controversial trip to Cancun back in 2021, when winter storm Uri caused significant damage in Texas.
He ultimately decided to cut his trip short and returned to Houston, later admitting that going to Cancun was a “mistake.”
Last summer, he also faced backlash for a trip to Greece while deadly flooding in the Texas Hill Country claimed 136 lives.
In response to the latest photo incident, Cruz’s office asserted that the trip had been scheduled well before Winter Storm Fern was anticipated.
“Senator Cruz is currently on a pre-planned trip that was set weeks ago,” a spokesperson stated.
“He will be back in Texas before the storm hits.”
The significant snow and ice storm began affecting portions of the country over the weekend and hit Texas on Friday afternoon, leading to power outages for thousands and creating hazardous conditions on the roads. Forecasters warned that this storm could be a “widespread, potentially catastrophic event” stretching from Texas to the Carolinas.
