Was it poor optics for Sen. Ted Cruz to fly to Cancun, Mexico while Texans are going without heat or electricity for days? Absolutely. Was his excuse about “wanting to be a good dad” and escorting his girls on a trip with friends a solid one? Not really; he said in his statement he was flying back Thursday afternoon, but hadn’t he planned to come back Saturday?
It was a mistake, he got caught, and he admits it.
Ted Cruz, speaking now about his Cancún trip, says he began to have regrets right as he got on the plane.
He says he understands why people are upset with him. pic.twitter.com/2b2zrTbTGD
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) February 18, 2021
But the media pile-on would have you think he’d killed thousands of nursing home patients. Check out the “perp-walk” awaiting him when he arrived back in the States — they took video of him walking up the boarding ramp:
Here’s Ted Cruz deplaning with police escort. Right now they’re waiting at customs. pic.twitter.com/xZUf4SzxBL
— Nora Neus (@noraneus) February 18, 2021
And now the New York Times has text messages from Heidi Cruz planning the trip to Cancun and inviting others along.
NEW w/ @npfandos: There are Heidi Cruz group text messages.
"Anyone can or want to leave for the week?"
Inside the planning of Ted Cruz's Cancún trip, and their escape from a "FREEZING" househttps://t.co/sgoh7nlYpB
— Shane Goldmacher (@ShaneGoldmacher) February 18, 2021
The Cruzes’ friends and neighbors are ratting them out https://t.co/OIzLBJ1Yn3 pic.twitter.com/fA03F3gxse
— Allahpundit (@allahpundit) February 18, 2021
“The private nature of the texts”? Not only does the Times have the text messages; liberal super-PAC American Bridge has screenshots of Mrs. Cruz’s text messages and posted them online:
Recommended
is this liberal oppo group taking responsibility for giving the times a scoop? https://t.co/1z4IfAniZ3
— Joe Gabriel Simonson (@SaysSimonson) February 19, 2021
What kind of garbage friend gives the group texts to American Bridge?
— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) February 19, 2021
Really gross to post, especially since Cruz already copped to it. https://t.co/zUtktYqLdE
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) February 19, 2021
If you're wondering why this doesn't violate Twitter's terms of service, please remember that Ted Cruz is a Republican. https://t.co/pAB63xNjrA
— I got your #Unity right here (@jtLOL) February 19, 2021
Remember when Twitter blocked people from sharing hacked content and banned you if you circumvented the content block? https://t.co/jhkbmThkAK
— Dr. Max Nordau (@MaxNordau) February 18, 2021
That Twitter policy on posting hacked or leaked material sure disappeared all of the sudden.
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) February 18, 2021
hmmmm I think it's possible the Heidi Cruz texts were obtained by hacking, so sadly Twitter's going to have to stop people from spreading them
— Alex Griswold (@HashtagGriswold) February 19, 2021
And check this out: Protesters are waiting for Cruz at his house:
Protesters await Sen. Ted Cruz's arrival at his Texas home. pic.twitter.com/9eHPlUGBqC
— The Recount (@therecount) February 18, 2021
Like we said at the top, poor optics, but certainly nothing criminal. And certainly nothing that deserves this much attention.
I almost feel bad about saying anything about Cruz because the media is so nasty. They say nothing about a Governor whose policies killed people and throw a fit over a nothingburger.
Cuomo, to this day, has not acknowledged the suffering he, personally, is responsible for.
— Melissa Mackenzie (@MelissaTweets) February 18, 2021
Cuomo caused suffering and death.
Cruz reacted stupidly politically to suffering.
See the difference media? She the moral inequality here?
Now, analyze how you've covered both.
— Melissa Mackenzie (@MelissaTweets) February 18, 2021
Every single journalist is mobilizing to report on Ted Cruz going to Cancun, a story that has absolutely no relevance to the weather or COVID issues.
Imagine if they decided to do this for real issues.
National media deserves its reputation until it proves otherwise. https://t.co/eV06WqYrOk
— Dr. Max Nordau (@MaxNordau) February 18, 2021
Journos successfully asked more questions about Ted Cruz in 12 hours than they did about Cuomo covering up nursing home deaths in eight months
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) February 18, 2021
I wish people cared 1/10th as much about what Cuomo has done in NY as they do Cruz taking a family vacation.
— Floplag (@floplag) February 19, 2021
I'm catching up on Twitter, busy day, and all I'm seeing is one Ted Cruz tweet after another. Did he kill thousands of people in nursing homes or something?
— Blame Big Government (@BlameBigGovt) February 19, 2021
It’s a lot easier to talk about Ted Cruz getting on a plane than it is the Biden administration’s having fifty different answers on whether and when schools will reopen.
— Varad Mehta (@varadmehta) February 19, 2021
Much of the power grid is down in Texas, and media report that Sen. Ted Cruz is in Cancun. Fortunately, Texas state law mandates a course in government as a public high school graduation requirement, so Texans know U.S. senators aren't responsible for the state's power grid.
— @KevinGutzman (@KevinGutzman) February 18, 2021
The media informed us that:
President Bush was responsible for the hurricane aftermath in New Orleans.
President Trump was responsible for the hurricane aftermath in Puerto Rico.Who is responsible for the winter storm aftermath in Texas? Of course: Ted Cruz
— TheRightWingM ?? (@TheRightWingM) February 18, 2021
Ted Cruz went to Cancun.
Andrew Cuomo sent elderly people their deaths.
Which one did the media endlessly report?
— HARLAN Z. HILL ?? (@Harlan) February 18, 2021
I'm in the camp that thinks Cruz messed up here, but holy hell it's amazing what this group of wannabe Woodwards can find when they're actually motivated to research a story. https://t.co/9RzMyPxdbM
— Lord BT (@back_ttys) February 19, 2021
Couldn't find 11,000 nursing home deaths over the course of 8 months. https://t.co/C9XimFHmly
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) February 19, 2021
Amazing how much effort journalists have put on this situation
You'd think Cruz sent seniors to their deaths then covered it up and threatened an aid to lie for him https://t.co/pNBPsqV3UM
— Branson Taylor (@Btaylor74) February 18, 2021
You might be upset at Ted Cruz for going to Cancun with his daughters but what has Biden done to help Texas?
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) February 19, 2021
So is there gonna be any consternation about President Biden not speaking out and offering any help to Texas and other states while taking a vacation the same week to play Mario Kart? Or are we only doing that with Ted Cruz?
— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) February 19, 2021
Here is the appropriate framing for Ted Cruz going to Cancun
"Huh. That seems dumb. Whatever. There are a thousand more important things going on."
— PoliMath (@politicalmath) February 19, 2021
idk, the yawning gap between me and the media culture is well illustrated by the amount of attention paid to the Cruz vacation story, about which I give not a single fuck
— PoliMath (@politicalmath) February 19, 2021
Counterpoint: There is an actual hard limit to the things you're able to muster the emotional energy to care about and if "Cruz goes to Cancun" is on that list, you're wasting your life https://t.co/qOipk3vSFG
— PoliMath (@politicalmath) February 19, 2021
Can't Ted Cruz call a lid for a couple of days? After all, he probably wants to seem presidential.
— InTheRightColumn (@TheRightColumn) February 19, 2021
The only mistake Ted Cruz made was apologizing.
— thebradfordfile (@thebradfordfile) February 19, 2021
The trip was a mistake, but maybe some perspective would be nice?
* * *
Update:
Just as we published this piece, we found out that Cruz is going on the local news tonight to talk about it more:
ABC13's @TomAbrahams13: How do you make this right?
Watch the 1-on-1 interview with @SenTedCruz here: https://t.co/4OmgFE9gfy pic.twitter.com/IU6ACVhOLf
— ABC13 Houston (@abc13houston) February 19, 2021
Related:
Andrew Cuomo’s brother Chris Cuomo shames Ted Cruz for not being ‘present and responsive’ during a crisis https://t.co/s1UOOUUsn6
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) February 18, 2021
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