Cruz Cancun Trip Triggers Mainstream Media

After losing power like most of Texas, Senator Ted Cruz took his family to Cancun. While admitting it was a mistake, he called the media circus a distraction.

Summary

As Texas was slammed with a winter storm that left wide swaths of the state without power, Texas Senator Ted Cruz came under criticism for taking his family to Cancun, Mexico after their Houston residence lost electricity.

• After cutting his trip short, Cruz addressed reporters outside his home, saying “it was obviously a mistake and in hindsight, I wouldn’t have done it”, saying he wanted to take care of his daughters who requested to go somewhere warmer.
• In an interview with local station KTRK, Cruz said he regrets the distraction from “the real issues” his travel has created.
• The Hill reporting of the crisis in Texas compared Cruz’s vacation plans to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s scandal over nursing home deaths, cautioning the perils of “disaster politics.”
• Politico grouped Cruz in with current Governor Greg Abbott and former Governor Rick Perry as a trio who have made missteps in dealing with the state’s weather crisis.

• CNN’s K-File unit compiled a list of instances in which Cruz criticized other politicians for vacationing during a crisis.
• The New York Times gave ample space for Democratic politicians to criticize Cruz while reporting on leaked text messages with Cruz’s wife regarding the trip, and The Washington Post collated the hits Cruz took from late-night comedians.
• The Huffington Post engaged in ad hominem attacks, calling Cruz “a grandstanding politician” and that his explanation for the trip was “flimsy.”

• The New York Post reported on the trip by highlighting the group text chat Heidi Cruz participated in to encourage friends and neighbors to join them. The chats were obtained by left-wing dark-money “news” organization Reform Austin, which has a history of targeting Republican candidates in Texas.
• While OANN ran a Reuters wire report on their website, Fox News slammed its competitors for obsessing over Cruz’s Cancun trip but avoiding the growing scandal of New York Governor Cuomo, who is now facing possible impeachment.
• RedState’s Brandon Morse blasted the media circus, asking the question of even if it was a horrible public relations move, assuming Cruz stayed in Texas “what, exactly, do you expect Ted Cruz to do here?” Morse made the argument that Cruz’s position as a Senator render him “powerless” to make an immediate impact on the power outage, but that his “image would be better served” if he were volunteering around the state.

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© Dallas Gerber, 2021