Ted Cruz told Texans to ‘just stay home’ two days before his controversial Cancun trip

Texas senator Ted Cruz urged his constituents to “just stay home” on a local radio show just two days before he jetted off to a controversial vacation in Cancun.

"I was speaking this weekend with a meteorologist expert who was saying (that with) the combination of these two storms, we could see 100 people lose their lives this week in Texas,” the Republican senator said on Monday on The Joe Pags Show. “So, don’t risk it. Keep your family safe, and just stay home and hug your kids."

Two days later, Mr Cruz flew to Cancún for a family vacation, and photos went viral of the senator in the airport as millions of Texans lacked power and heat.

As he and his family made their way to Mexico, the senator’s team asked Houston Police Department personnel to monitor his movements as they went through security at George Bush Intercontinental Airport, as the city struggled with 1.3 million people without power, frozen pipes, and a boil water notice for its citizens, many of whom lacked the electricity or gas to do so, leaving them essentially without fresh water. 

The senator, who carried a big bag and was reportedly booked to stay in Mexico through Saturday, returned to the US on Thursday as backlash mounted and Texas Democrats called on him to resign. A source close to Mr Cruz told Politico that he always intended to return on Thursday. 

Mr Cruz defended his trip in a statement on Thursday and said he was just trying to be a good dad.

“With school cancelled for the week, our girls asked to take a trip with friends,” the statement reads. “Wanting to be a good dad, I flew down with them last night and am flying back this afternoon.”

“My staff and I are in constant communication with state and local leaders to get to the bottom of what happened in Texas,” he added in the statement. “We want our power back, our water on, and our homes warm. My team and I will continue using all our resources to keep Texans informed and safe.”

Amid the Covid pandemic, Mr Cruz had previously blasted Democratic officials for ignoring their own calls to stay home, calling Austin mayor Steve Adler a hypocrite for telling people to avoid traveling while he was vacationing in Cabo San Lucas.

“Hypocrites. Complete and utter hypocrites,” the Texas senator said at the time. “And don’t forget @MayorAdler who took a private jet with eight people to Cabo and WHILE IN CABO recorded a video telling Austinites to ‘stay home if you can ... this is not the time to relax."

Mr Cruz is a prolific Twitter warrior, and his old tweets have already come back to haunt him as political infighting breaks out during the catastrophic storms in Texas.

He’d also previously bashed California as “unable to perform even basic functions of civilisation, like having reliable electricity,” after California governor urged residents to conserve energy during a recent heatwave while the state experienced blackouts. 

“I got no defense,” he wrote on Twitter once people started resurfacing the old comments,” he said. “A blizzard strikes Texas & our state shuts down. Not good. Stay safe!”