Sen. Cruz and his family have left Texas during its unprecedented winter-weather state of emergency.
The state of Texas is under a state of emergency. An unprecedented winter weather storm has left millions in the dark as bitter cold and ice have caused power outages and treacherous road conditions during a deadly coronavirus pandemic that already has its citizenry afraid and isolated.
Well, thankfully, not all of them.
Wednesday night, photos circulated on Twitter that appear to show Texas Sen. Ted Cruz flying out of the state, heading to Cancun, Mexico.
Cruz’s office did not confirm his travel plans, however, MSNBC anchor David Shuster shared on Twitter that he had indeed confirmed the person being shown in those pictures was the Lone Star State Republican. His followers co-signed the newsman’s sighting.
“Just confirmed @SenTedCruz and his family flew to Cancun tonight for a few days at a resort they’ve visited before,” he tweeted. “Cruz seems to believe there isn’t much for him to do in Texas for the millions of fellow Texans who remain without electricity/water and are literally freezing.”
More than four million Texans are without power and heat after the state’s private power management company, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, said demand exceeded supply, leading to rolling blackouts.
“We are working around the clock to restore power to Texans,” ERCOT President and CEO Bill Magness said. “We made progress today, but it will not be good enough until every person has their power back.”
The collapse of the electrical grid means many homes are not just without lighting, but also heating, as many Texas homes are heated with electricity. Water supplies are also dwindling, and the state is under a boil-water advisory — which far too many cannot do because they have no power.
Twitter users are appalled that Cruz has seemingly abandoned his suffering state for the balmy 80-degree weather of Cancun.
An account called Turn Texas Blue wrote that Cruz’s 2018 challenger, Beto O’Rourke, had volunteers calling “151k Texas seniors to make sure they’re okay and help provide assistance. Greg Abbott goes on Fox News and blames a non-existent Green New Deal, Democrats, and Windmills. Ted Cruz is vacationing in Cancun while Texans freeze to death. Unreal.”
In an article from The Texas Tribune, Brianna Blake, a mother of two young sons, shared how “to go through all of that and then also to have stuff like this happen, it’s like, ‘one more historical event, and I’m going to develop PTSD. I cannot do this.”
Blake and her family are sleeping on bundles of blankets in front of their fireplace. They were reportedly forced to burn a piece of artwork from their walls to keep the flames going.
“This was poorly managed,” she said. “It was clarifying, to be honest with you, because now we know when things hit the fan, we’re in it alone.”
At least when it comes to the support of one Texas senator, she might be right.
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