We’re on Day 2 (or is it 2.5?) of “The Ted Cruz Scandal,” and it’s showing no signs of slowing down. The media have found their golden squirrel, and they’re gonna beat the hell outta this thing.
Am I getting this straight? Ted Cruz drove to Cancun with is dog on the roof?
— Michael Mcdonald (@meadabawdy) February 19, 2021
Not quite, but you’re close!
Snowflake was left at home while the senator and his family slipped away to Mexico https://t.co/l4mZAzzKvW
— New York Magazine (@NYMag) February 19, 2021
Who’s Snowflake, you ask? Only the Cruz family’s sweet little dog. And they just left him at home, all alone! Can you believe it? White House correspondent and CNN political analyst April D. Ryan can’t believe it:
Not only did Senator Ted Cruz & his family abandon the people of #Texas for a vacation in #Cancun during the winter crisis; but they also abandoned their dog!#TedCruz #CancunCruz #FreeSnowflake https://t.co/oYOatVtseG
— AprilDRyan (@AprilDRyan) February 19, 2021
How could Ted Cruz and his family just abandon their dog like this?
https://twitter.com/emzanotti/status/1362791023651528709
Stop whatabouting, Emily. Clearly this Snowflake thing is much more serious than thousands of elderly New Yorkers being doomed to their deaths by their media-darling governor!
Just drove by Ted Cruz’s house in Houston. His lights are off but a neighbor told me the block got its power back last night. Also, Ted appears to have left behind the family poodle. pic.twitter.com/TmLyGQkASy
— Michael Hardy (@mkerrhardy) February 18, 2021
Oh, the humanity! Or … pet-anity!
Texan and Real Journalist Michael Hardy writes:
After jaunting off to Cancún with his family Wednesday night, Senator Ted Cruz explained that he was merely escorting his teenage girls on a vacation trip with their friends. In an apparent bid for sympathy, he noted that, like millions of other Texans, “our family lost heat and water.” Cynics immediately cast doubt on this claim, so this afternoon I decided to check out the senator’s power situation for myself. Supplied with Cruz’s address by a knowledgeable friend, I drove the fifteen minutes from my Houston apartment to the uber-rich River Oaks neighborhood where Cruz lives.
From the street, Cruz’s white, Colonial Revival–style mansion looked dark and uninhabited. A neighbor informed me that the block had indeed lost power before finally getting it back late Wednesday night. A glance at the lighted lanterns flanking the doorways of other homes on the block confirmed this. The senator’s story appeared to check out. But then I heard barking and noticed a small, white dog looking out the bottom right pane of glass in the senator’s front door. Had Cruz left his dog behind?
Well, Michael? Had he?
Turns out, he hadn’t:
As I approached to knock, a man stepped out of the Suburban parked in Cruz’s driveway. “Is this Senator Cruz’s house?” I asked. He said it was, that Cruz wasn’t home, and identified himself as a security guard. When asked who was taking care of the dog, the guard volunteered that he was. Reassured of the dog’s well-being, I returned to my car. Before leaving, though, I took a photo of the house from my car window, making sure not to include the house address.
Oh.
Tweet vs. story. pic.twitter.com/y0lTETrb2U
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) February 19, 2021
“He said it was, that Cruz wasn’t home, and identified himself as a security guard. When asked who was taking care of the dog, the guard volunteered that he was.”
Following that exchange, the author snapped a photo of the dog to manipulate the Internet. https://t.co/66qpRVQRcn
— Emily Zanotti (@emzanotti) February 19, 2021
And it worked!
Shouldn't be surprised at @tedcruz leaving his dog behind as we see the animal sanctuary in Texas that's become a morgue because the animals were freezing to death due to @gop negligence
— RWLatstetter (@latstetter) February 19, 2021
He left his poodle to fend for himself in a freezing cold house? Why does this not surprise me.
— Are You Going With Me? (@marlene8152) February 19, 2021
Has he been reported for animal cruelty?
— Tory Gates (@ToryGates) February 19, 2021
That dog should be take away from them and they should be charged with animal cruelty.
— Bibliophile57 (@RybinskiSharon) February 19, 2021
Certainly worked like a charm on April D. Ryan, whose instinct as a journalist is to shoot first and ask questions, well, never.
What if that dog is being looked after? What if he is loved and loves his humans? Do you want him removed from the family just because you hate @tedcruz ? For spite? I’m so surprised at you acting like this, not caring about ‘full facts’ SHAME ON YOU
— Building a True Democracy- is good for the soul (@kaye_whelan) February 19, 2021
Are you actually this dumb or just this shameless of a liar
— Bethany S. Mandel (@bethanyshondark) February 19, 2021
This is just a blatant lie
— Dave (@NotTheFakeMcCoy) February 19, 2021
This … is April D. Ryan’s M.O. It’s actually many self-described journalists’ M.O. And since journalism has basically devolved into one giant, perpetual circle jerk, we can expect lots more of this sort of thing.
Just dishonest garbage people. There's zero reason for this story to exist, but they did it. Cruz looks bad enough but they still go and do this.
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) February 19, 2021
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Related:
Sen. Ted Cruz’s trip to Cancun shows journalists can really dig into a story when they want to
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