- A Texas GOP congressman criticized Senator Ted Cruz for his trip to Cancún during the winter storms that paralyzed the state.
- Congressman Michael McCaul said: ‘When a crisis hits my state … I won’t go on vacation.’
- The comments come at the moment when Axios reports that Cruz did not declare that he invited his college roommate to the trip.
A Texas Republican congressman criticized Senator Ted Cruz for his decision to fly to Mexico during the winter storms that paralyzed the state’s energy infrastructure and cut off the power of millions of Texans, labeling it a “big mistake”.
Representative Michael McCaul, the senior Republican on the House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee, told CNN on Sunday that Cruz’s decision to fly to Cancún and return in a hurry while facing a political reaction was wrong.
“Look, when a crisis hits my state, I’m there – I’m not going on vacation,” said Representative McCaul to CNN’s State of the Union.
“I know that Mr. Cruz called it a mistake and he admitted it, but I think it was a big mistake and, as for me, he was on the ground trying to help my people and my constituents, and that is what we should be doing in a moment of crisis, “added McCaul.
The comments come as Axios reports that Cruz invited his college roommate on the trip.
Axios reports that Cruz was accompanied by his former Princeton and Harvard Law roommate David Panton during the visit.
President Joe Biden on Saturday declared a major crisis in Texas and sent federal funds to the state after extreme winter storms left millions without power or running water.
Power was restored to most homes on Monday morning, according to the poweroutage.us website, but millions of Texans continued to run out of water over the weekend due to burst pipes and other problems, Associated reported. Press.
Dozens of people are said to have died as a result of the conditions, and the actual death toll is feared to be even greater, the Texas Tribune reported.
Senator Cruz was ridiculed over the weekend after posting photos of himself carrying water bottles in a car while trying to repair the political damage from his decision to fly to Cancun, Mexico, for a vacation on Thursday. He returned to Texas less than 24 hours after arriving in Mexico and considered the trip a “mistake”.
Another GOP Texas politician was forced to defend his actions at the weekend after he flew out of the state in a private jet in the midst of the crisis.
State Representative Gary Gates, who represents District 28 in the Texas House of Representatives, told Click2Houston outlet that he fled the state with his family to Florida because part of his home flooded and because he was concerned about his family.
“Because of my wife’s illness she had for a few weeks and my disabled daughter with her area of the house being flooded, I was just trying to find some easier accommodation for them and I was trying to find a place where I could continue to work and do the things I needed to do, “said Gates, according to the vehicle.