Texas senator Ted Cruz is finally speaking out after he was criticized for his decision to fly to Cancun with his family as his constituents struggle to survive.
Cruz explained that he was just trying to be a good dad.
“With school cancelled for the week, our girls asked to take a trip with friends,” Cruz said in a statement. “Wanting to be a good dad, I flew down with them last night and am flying back this afternoon. My staff and I are in constant communication with state and local leaders to get to the bottom of what happened in Texas.
“We want our power back, our water on, and our homes warm. My team and I will continue using all our resources to keep Texans informed and safe,” he added.
Millions of Texans are without power as a higher-than-usual demand for electricity coinciding with a supply threatened by large amounts of ice and snow and freezing temperatures, overwhelmed the state’s power grid during the winter storms.
On Wednesday evening social media users posted photos of a man resembling Ted Cruz boarding a flight with his family. CNN later confirmed that it was the senator and his family at the Houston airport and that they boarded a flight bound for Cancun, Mexico.
Hours after the trip was criticized by Texas Democrats including state Rep. Gene Wu, and Cruz’s 2018 Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke, other images surfaced that showed someone with the Texas senator’s last name and first initial of his legal first name — Rafael — standing by for a flight from Cancun back to Houston later Thursday morning.
