Ted Cruz mocked for staging ‘shameless’ #TexasStrong photo-op after fleeing storm-ravaged state for Cancun
TED Cruz has been mocked for sharing photos of himself handing out bottled water in a "shameless" photo-op just days after he jetted off to Cancun with his family.
On Saturday, the senator posted several photos of himself on Twitter delivering water to residents with the hashtag #TexasStrong, as he faces fierce backlash for heading to Cancun, Mexico as Texans froze to death during a devastating winter storm.
In Texas, some 14 million people are now without clean water and a major disaster has been declared.
Across Houston and Austin, people have been waiting in long lines in their cars for water. In Cruz's pictures, the parking lot appeared almost empty.
In three images, Cruz is pictured loading packs of water into people's cars, however it is not known exactly where and when the photographs were taken.
But social media users called his bluff and described Cruz's move as "an embarrassment".
"GTFOH. This guy Ted Cruz is an embarrassment to Texas and anyone with a brain. He must really think his constituents are dumb as hell," Tweeted Bruno Amato, who is running for Congress in 2022.
Another person, Noelle, wrote on Twitter: "The same reason why a US Senator would feel the need to have a police escort when he returns to his home State is the reason why he needs to set up a photo op in an empty parking lot - he knows his own constituents hate him and wouldn’t hesitate to call him out to his face".
'Too little too late, Ted Cruz/ My sister, her 2 sons, & their wives are all Republicans living near Austin. You've lost all their votes. My step-son & his wife figured you out years ago; you never had their votes. Pretending to care after you've been caught does not count,' wrote ConcernedLinda.
The senator was forced to return from his Mexican beach resort vacation while millions of fellow Texans were suffered through a freak weather event that included freezing temperatures, widespread power outages, and a lack of drinking water.
Americans from across the political aisle equally voiced their outrage over Cruz leaving the state as roughly 70 people died from hypothermia and other things for Mexico's sunshine.
Cruz and his family - including wife Heidi, 48, and their daughters, Catherine, 12, and Caroline, 10, - have returned to Texas after at the $300-a-night Ritz Carlton resort.
After dashing to the luxury resort, Cruz landed back in Texas on Thursday and had a police escort at the airport, where protesters held signs stating "24 dead" from the winter storm – a number that has since risen significantly.
Speaking to reporters outside his house, Cruz admitted he made a mistake and insisted he was "just trying to be a dad."
"It was obviously a mistake and in hindsight I wouldn't have done it," Cruz said.
"I was trying to be a dad and all of us have made decisions – when you've got two girls who have been cold for two days, and haven't had heat or power, and they are saying: 'Look, we don't have school, why don't we go, let's get out of here," he said.
Asked directly what he was thinking, Cruz replied: "You question what I was thinking, and... I was trying to take care of my family.
"I was trying to take care of my kids. It's unfortunate, the firestorm that came from it.
"It was not my intention – in saying 'yes' to my daughters to somehow diminish all the Texans that were going through real hardship."
The senator later expressed his regret as text messages obtained by The Sun emerged showing his wife Heidi planning the Cancun trip to escape the bitterly cold weather in Texas.
Just weeks before Cruz embarked on his trip, the elite private school his daughters attend emailed parents about international travel.
The notice warned that St John’s School students who travel internationally must quarantine for seven to 10 days upon their return, as per CDC guidelines.
The email, sent on January 30, also advised that online learning would not be available to students in quarantine, reports.
It came after two classes at the school were forced to promptly quarantine because students attended holiday parties that led to multiple infections.
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The incident created a divide between the parents and students who followed the safety guidelines and those who flouted them – a microcosm of the broader societal conflict that plays out daily across the nation.
A Cruz spokesman said the senator’s “daughters plan to follow the St. John’s policy.”