Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) spoke to reporters Thursday amid the public relations fallout from his recent family trip to Cancun, Mexico, which he took while many of his constituents in Texas are suffering from harrowing weather and widespread power blackouts.
Cruz was met with criticism when he was photographed Wednesday on a plane heading from Houston to Cancun for vacation while more than 3 million Texans remained without power after a catastrophic power grid failure following Winter Storm Uri.
After catching a flight back to Houston on Thursday, Cruz addressed the backlash with reporters outside his home. “We left yesterday, the plan had been to stay through the weekend with the family,” he said, referencing how the last week “has been tough on a lot of folks” and recounting how his family had been reduced to clustering around the fireplace after they lost power.
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When his daughters found out that school had been canceled for the week, Cruz explained,
