Ted Cruz found himself in the middle of controversy due to his abrupt and random trip to Cancun, Mexico while Texas faces a once-in-a-lifetime deep freeze catastrophe. A snow and ice storm hit the state like a ton of bricks. People all over the state are facing issues with a lack of power and water in freezing temperatures that they are not prepared for. Democratic politicians alongside some conservative critics say Ted Cruz is, at least, not engaging in good “optics” by flying to Mexico during the storm.
Texas is in the middle of what can only be described as a natural disaster due to record-breaking cold temperatures compounded with snow and ice storms. The chaos began with a 133-vehicle pile-up on the interstate in Fort Worth that resulted in at least six people dying. Then, snow and ice continued to blanket the streets which restricted travel in and out of many parts of the state. The final proverbial nail in the coffin was crippling power outages that affected millions of people. Some were left without power for more than 24 hours in dangerous cold temperatures that most Texans did not even have the proper clothing for.
In the midst of all the chaos happening in Texas, news breaks that Ted Cruz was spotted on a plane going to Cancun, Mexico leaving his home of Houston, Texas. Since Cruz is a US Senator from Texas, people immediately began to compare him to the likes of Chris Christie who visited the beach that he closed, and Austin Mayor Steve Adler who took a trip to Cabo San Lucas after telling Austin residents to stay home due to the virus. Some people on social media even compared the optics of Ted Cruz’s Mexico trip to Andrew Cuomo’s nursing home scandal.
In defense of Austin Mayor Steve Adler, Ted Cruz did criticize him publicly for asking his constituents in Austin to stay home because of the virus while he traveled to Cabo. The key difference here is that Adler cited the virus as the reason why residents should stay home. If the virus is so dangerous and it’s enough to essentially quarantine people, then why would the person who gave the quarantine “request” violate that themselves? Ted Cruz asked residents to stay home while he left for Mexico, but that is where the similarities between what they did cease. Cruz was speaking about the dangerous road conditions that were unsafe for travel. He was not speaking about quarantining in place due to a contagion.
The reality is that Ted Cruz did, in fact, go to Mexico with his family, but not for long. Cruz released a statement saying that his children wanted to go on a trip to Cancun with friends, and he accompanied them down there to make sure they got there safe, and he was to take a trip back on Thursday. Fox News anchor John Roberts and others report that Cruz was allegedly originally supposed to come back on Saturday. The specific time and day that Ted Cruz is to return are not much of the point. The actual point here is getting down to the bottom of what he did wrong… if anything.
Aside from magically becoming a working power plant, there is not much Ted Cruz can actually do to help Texans who are in crisis. US Senators represent their individual states in D.C. They don’t deal with let’s say… tornado damage in Houston. Much of the outrage around this is just political wargames… as per usual.
SOURCES:
Flyin’ Ted: Cruz said he flew to Cancun during weather crisis to be a ‘good dad’
Ted Cruz in Cancún as Winter Storm Hits Texas – The New York Times
Ted Cruz on Twitter: “Hypocrites. Complete and utter hypocrites. And don’t forget @MayorAdler who took a private jet with eight people to Cabo and WHILE IN CABO recorded a video telling Austinites to “stay home if you can…this is not the time to relax.” https://t.co/KSvkiwxgga” / Twitter
Austin mayor Adler in Cabo despite encouraging no travel amid COVID-19
The parts of Texas not on its ERCOT power grid appear to have weathered the freeze with few outages
China to expand weather modification program to cover 5.5 million square kilometers – CNN
