The senator has joked at least four times about the trip on Twitter, most recently as an effort to lambaste high-profile Democrats for taking a vacation and to jab at inflation under President Joe Biden. One fan can be heard yelling, "Go back to Cancn!" in video footage of the incident.Ĭruz has since leaned into the criticism. In October, baseball fans delivered a less than warm welcome for Cruz in New York when he was booed during a World Series game there. There’s a trending Twitter hashtag #cancuncruz and photos of him at the airport have become internet memes. "Saturday Night Live" and others have regularly lampooned Cruz for fleeing the state. Six weeks into 2021, Cruz had also been the focus of scorn over his objections to certifying President Joe Biden’s electoral victory, an effort his campaign used to raise money that also led to calls for his resignation and an ethics complaint from Senate Democrats. The trip sparked calls for Cruz’s resignation. Cruz said he regretted it as soon as he got on the plane. Their home, like much of Houston, lost power. He blamed his daughters for the trip, saying he was “taking care” of his family and caved as his daughters asked him to get away from their freezing home. In case you missed it: Ted Cruz tells supporters he's running for re-election to the Senate in 2024, not for president The Cancún trip was “obviously a mistake,” Cruz said later in a rare mea culpa after returning home to Houston after just one night - cutting short a trip that was originally scheduled to last through the weekend. Ted Cruz walks to check in for his flight back to the U.S., at Cancun International Airport in Cancun, Mexico on Thursday, Feb. It was reported later that hundreds died during the disaster. At the time, millions in his home state were left in the cold, without power and/or water, reeling from a widespread freeze. It didn’t take long for outrage to follow Cruz’s Cancún trip after pictures surfaced showing the Texas Republican boarding a plane out of Houston on Wednesday, Feb. Senate and finally allowing him some time to finally relax at his preferred Cancún resort,” Ike Hajinazarian, a spokesperson for the Texas Democratic Party, told politico after Cruz announced he would run for a third term.ĭave Vasquez, Cruz's press secretary, did not return a phone call requesting comment. “We look forward to our Democratic nominee retiring Ted Cruz from the U.S. Any reference Cruz seems to make about cold weather nowadays inspires a storm of Twitter snark.Ĭruz’s political rivals also don’t hesitate to bring up his 2021 trip to Mexico. Still, that doesn’t mean people haven't tried. The senator has been criticized from flying to Cancun with his family while the state is in crisis because of cold temperatures. Ted Cruz's home demanding his resignation, Thursday, Feb. “So I do think that time is his friend on this as people’s memories fade,” Rottinghaus said.ĭemonstrators stand in front of U.S. And as Texas’ population continues to grow, few will have his trip to Mexico on their mind as they head to the polls. The degree to which scandals matter today has largely dissipated in an era of polarization and partisanship in which “people are more willing to forgive politicians who they like,” Rottinghaus said. Ted Cruz, back in Houston, calls controversial Cancún trip 'a mistake' In another era, perhaps Cruz’s Mexican vacation during the deadly 2021 freeze would have had political consequences.
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