Ted Cruz has been slammed for joking that Texans should “join me in Cancun” as the state braces for a deep freeze.
“Texans, with the freeze coming, wrap your pipes, cover your plants, stay off icy roads & keep your family safe. And, if it gets too damn cold, join me in Cancun!” he wrote on X.
His tweet came after Texans were warned by the state’s governor Greg Abbott to get ready for ice weather conditions that are expected to hit the state on Monday and continue into Tuesday evening.
Amid warnings of severe weather conditions, which will affect more than 200 million Americans this week, Cruz seized the opportunity to make yet another joke about the time in February 2021 when he left his fellow Texans suffering record-cold temperatures and power outages to stay in sunny and warm Cancun, Mexico.
More than 4.5 million homes and businesses were left without power and as many as 246 people were killed as a result of the cold weather.
Meanwhile, Cruz was rumoured to be on a family vacation in Cancun, something he later apologised for, admitting it was “obviously a mistake” and that “In hindsight, I wouldn’t have done it”.
Cruz was widely criticized for his actions, leading him to fly back to Texas from Mexico almost immediately after saying he went on the trip because he wanted to “be a good dad.”
The Republican was reportedly on an upgrade list for his flight to Cancun, Mexico, in 2021— (Reuters)
“With school cancelled for the week, our girls asked to take a trip with friends. Wanting to be a good dad, I flew down with them last night and am flying back this afternoon,” he said in February 2021.
Since then, Cruz has attempted to live down the scandal by making jokes about it - something that has not impressed his critics.
“It wasn’t funny then and it’s not funny now. You literally ran away to Cancun as your constituents died. I’m sure their families don’t think it’s a punchline. No wonder no one likes you,” one person said on X of Cruz’s most recent remarks.
“Feels a bit odd to joke about getting caught going to Mexico while your constituents froze for a week and at least 246 people died but here we are,” another person said.
“When Ted Cruz jetted off to Cancun while Texans were freezing in the dark, I was on the phone with @FEMA working to coordinate supplies and helped the @NTFB get food to Texans. Texas deserves a leader who will step up for our state, not abandon us in a crisis,” former NFL linebacker and Congressman Colin Allred wrote on X.
This was not the first time Cruz made light of the 2021 scandal. In November 2021, he responded to a tweet about California Governor Gavin Newsom vacationing in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, by tweeting back that “Cancun is much nicer than Cabo.”
Meanwhile, in May last year, the Texas senator was criticized after he posted a picture of himself on X posing next to a neon Cancun sign in Midland, Texas.
“More than 200 Texans died in that winter storm, officially, but the real death toll was much higher. For Cruz, who abandoned suffering Texans for the Ritz in Cancun, it’s all one big joke,” former NSNBC host Mehdi Hasan wrote.
“It says Cancun and looks like a d***. Perfectly on brand for @tedcruz,” another person wrote.
