Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, flew to Cancun, Mexico, Wednesday for a family vacation while hundreds of thousands of Texans were without power, clean water, and heat because of the state’s historic winter storm, reports Fox News.
More than 2.5 million Texas homes and businesses are still without power as frigid temperatures have devastated the state’s power grid. Frozen pipes are bursting, flooding homes and businesses. At least 24 people in the state have died this week.
The images of Cruz at an airport with his family waiting to board a plan began circulating Wednesday night.
Cruz cut his trip short after his travels were reported, stopping briefly in Cancun airport to speak to media on his way out of Mexico.
"With school canceled for the week, our girls asked to take a trip with friends," Cruz said.
"Wanting to be a good dad, I flew down with them last night and am flying back this afternoon. My.
The Houston Police Department told NBC News that Cruz’s staff contacted them Wednesday afternoon to assist the lawmaker at Houston’s international airport and monitor his movements.
“They reached out to us, let us know that he was going to be arriving and could we assist, so upon his arrival to the Houston airport we monitored his movements,” a police department spokesperson told the news outlet.
The state Democratic Party has called on Cruz to resign.
“Texans are dying and you’re on a flight to Cancun. #TedCruzRESIGN,” it tweeted.
State Rep. Gene Wu on Wednesday slammed Cruz, tweeting, “Guess which US Senator from Texas flew to Cancun while the state was freezing to death and having to boil water?”
The tweet included a photo of Cruz walking down the aisle of a plane he was boarding.
“Ted Cruz had already proven to be an enemy to our democracy by inciting an insurrection. Now, he is proving to be an enemy to our state by abandoning us in our greatest time of need,” Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa said Thursday. “For the 21st time, the Texas Democratic Party calls on Ted Cruz to resign or be expelled from office.”
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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