Texas senator on holiday in Mexico as storm slams home state – report
Senator Ted Cruz was a leading Republican voice even before he ran for president in 2016 (Alex Brandon/AP)
Texas Senator Ted Cruz has travelled to Mexico for a family holiday as his home state struggles with a powerful winter storm that has left many residents without power or safe drinking water.
The high-profile Republican politician went for a long-planned trip to Cancun and was expected to return immediately, according to a source.
Spokespersons for Mr Cruz’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The revelation opens Mr Cruz up to significant criticism in Texas and beyond as he contemplates the possibility of a second presidential run in 2024.
The two-term senator’s current term expires in early 2025.
Hundreds of thousands of people in Texas woke up on Thursday to a fourth day without power, and a water crisis was unfolding after winter storms wreaked havoc on the state’s power grid and utilities.
Texas officials ordered seven million people — one-quarter of the population of the nation’s second largest state — to boil tap water before drinking it, after days of record low temperatures that have damaged infrastructure and frozen pipes.
In Austin, some hospitals faced a loss in water pressure and in some cases, heat.
Mr Cruz’s office has declined to release any details about the family holiday, but his staff reached out to the Houston Police Department on Wednesday afternoon to say the senator would be arriving at the airport, according to department spokeswoman Jodi Silva.
She said officers “monitored his movements” while Mr Cruz was at the airport.
Ms Silva could not say whether such requests were typical for Mr Cruz’s travel or whether his staff had made a similar request for his return flight.
Mr Cruz was a leading Republican voice even before he ran for president in 2016. In more recent years, he has positioned himself as a key ally of Donald Trump with an eye towards a potential second White House bid.
The Texas senator, who once described Mr Trump as a “pathological liar”, championed the-then president’s call to block the certification last month of Democrat Joe Biden’s election victory.
That stand led to calls for Mr Cruz’s resignation after a violent mob stormed the Capitol as Congress was affirming Mr Biden’s win.
“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 on Thursday.
“For the 21st time, the Texas Democratic Party calls on Ted Cruz to resign or be expelled from office.”
Mr Cruz’s office dismissed calls for his resignation earlier in the month.
“The left – and some grifters on the right – are consumed by partisan anger and rage,” his office said in a written statement earlier in the month.
“Senator Cruz will continue to work for 29 million Texans in the Senate.”
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