Word of flight to Cancun from frozen Texas lands Senator Ted Cruz in hot water
Last edited Thu Feb 18, 2021, 01:55 PM - Edit history (3)
Source: Reuters
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Ted Cruz flew to the Mexican resort city of Cancun with his family, Fox News reported on Thursday, as millions of his fellow Texans struggled through a deadly deep freeze, sparking a slew of criticism. The Republican lawmaker, 50, faced widespread criticism as photos circulated on social media showing him in an airport line, in a passenger lounge, aboard an airliner and departing an airport in Mexico.
It was unclear when the photos were taken and Cruz's Senate office did not respond to multiple queries. Fox News said Cruz flew to Cancun with his family, quoting an unidentified Republican source who said: "The photos speak for themselves." Cruz's social media pages and official website made no mention of the photos. He ran unsuccessfully for president in 2016. Hours before the Fox News report, photos began circulating on social media that a journalist said had shown him flying to Mexico's Caribbean coast, where temperatures were to be above 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27 Celsius).
"Just confirmed @SenTedCruz and his family flew to Cancun tonight for a few days at a resort they've visited before. Cruz seems to believe there isn't much for him to do in Texas for the millions of fellow Texans who remain without electricity/water and are literally freezing." former MSNBC anchor David Shuster tweeted shortly after midnight.
Millions of Texans remained paralyzed by power and water outages after a winter storm and freezing temperatures that hampered efforts to restore full power. With 2.7 million Texas households still without heat, leaders warned of a domino effect on infrastructure as the lack of power cut off water supplies, strained the ability of hospitals to treat COVID-19 patients and isolated vulnerable communities with frozen roads still impassable.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-weather-cruz-idUSKBN2AI233
New York Times now has it too -
Feb. 18, 2021, 11:21 a.m. ET21 minutes ago
21 minutes ago
By Shane Goldmacher and Nicholas Fandos
As Texas was battered by an icy storm and widespread power losses that left millions of residents freezing and fearing for their safety, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas left the state on Wednesday and traveled to Mexico for a previously planned family vacation, according to a person with direct knowledge of the trip.
Photos of Mr. Cruz and his wife boarding a flight from Houston to Cancun, Mexico sparked a fierce outcry on social media late Wednesday. The person familiar with his trip, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss Mr. Cruz's personal travel, said the senator planned to return to Texas on Thursday. Mr. Cruz's office has not responded to inquiries about his whereabouts.
As Mr. Cruz left the country, his home state was gripped by crisis: millions of people without power, many without running water and a deep freeze so severe that the Federal Emergency Management Agency had been activated to send supplies. Gov. Greg Abbott declared that, "Every source of power that the state of Texas has been compromised."
Mr. Cruz himself had posted updates throughout Wednesday on Twitter about the intensity of the winter storm from the National Weather Service. "Stay safe and please continue to follow the warnings and updates provided by state and local officials," he wrote on Wednesday morning. Mr. Cruz's decision to leave his state in the middle of a crisis was an especially confounding one for a politician who has already run for president once, in 2016, and widely seen as wanting to run again in 2024 or beyond.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/18/us/ted-cruz-cancun.html
Moving Newsweek report here to add the Reuters updated story above (which was of February 18, 2021 9:46 AM ET) -
By Darragh Roche On 2/18/21 at 6:13 AM EST
Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) has been accused of traveling to Cancun, Mexico, amid the ongoing crisis in Texas, where millions have been left without power or heat in freezing temperatures. Photos circulating on social media overnight appeared to show the senator at an airport and on an airplane. The idea that Cruz and his family had flown to Mexico soon spread on Twitter.
However, Cruz's office had not confirmed any travel plans to Cancun at the time of writing and Newsweek could not independently verify the claim that he was at an airport or flying on Wednesday. This did not stop many social media users accepting that Cruz had left the country while his state struggles with a major crisis.
"Just confirmed @SenTedCruz and his family flew to Cancun tonight for a few days at a resort they've visited before," tweeted former MSNBC anchor David Shuster. "Cruz seems to believe there isn't much for him to do in Texas for the millions of fellow Texans who remain without electricity/water and are literally freezing."
Shuster shared a photo of Cruz on an airplane but it's not clear when the picture was taken and the journalist offered no further evidence that the senator had flown to Mexico yesterday.
https://www.newsweek.com/ted-cruz-accused-flying-cancun-texas-power-outages-photo-goes-viral-1570118
Link to tweet
TEXT
@DavidShuster
Just confirmed @SenTedCruz and his family flew to Cancun tonight for a few days at a resort they've visited before. Cruz seems to believe there isn't much for him to do in Texas for the millions of fellow Texans who remain without electricity/water and are literally freezing.
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12:28 AM · Feb 18, 2021
As a note - Schuster had been kicked off of MSNBC quite awhile ago...
Some other things floating around -
Link to tweet
TEXT
Keith Edwards
@keithedwards
·
Feb 17, 2021
Replying to @keithedwards
🤔
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Keith Edwards
@keithedwards
These were taken at 4:10p today, per this screenshot. The flight was at 4:45p, coming out of Houston.
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10:41 PM · Feb 17, 2021
= new reply since forum marked as read
This was from last week
I stand informed ...
I just hate to get premature about unconfirmed things ...
And truly want to not be disappointed when they don’t pan out ...
Here's a pic from that very same day, different angle.
and sit on the beach resort ranting about socialist green energy policies, flying on the taxpayer dime, while his state is a failure based on nothing but deregulation and greed.....and he still has blood on his hands...
they conserve their mouth and chin, but keep the nose out for freedom. 
stick it in someone's business!
But many of the dumbest ones will wear mesh masks or poke holes in their masks to own the libs.
Does Rafael speak Spanish? It's part of his heritage, ya know.
Bring on the billboards! That would be an excellent campaign meme for Beto.
Typical rethuglican compassion and empathy.
HURRICANE DELTA
TROPICAL STORM GAMMA
They apparently got the place up and running quickly.
Remember the Government Shutdown of 2013?
Texas will reelect this joker again.
And yes I was caught in that fucking shutdown and was furloughed from Oct. 1st until Oct. 17th when they finally passed something.
