“Look, when a crisis hits my state, I’m there. I’m not going on vacation,” said McCaul, the main Republican on the House’s Foreign Affairs committee, CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union” Sunday.
“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 “, he added.
McCaul’s comments add to a wave of disapproval directed at Cruz since he was spotted on a plane bound for Cancún, while millions in his home state were left without power or water. After returning to Houston on Thursday afternoon, Cruz told reporters outside his home that it was “obviously a mistake” and that “looking back, I wouldn’t have made it”.
As an elected official for a federal post, Cruz has no local role in responding to the storm, but natural disasters are often a time when constituents seek out their elected representatives for help and access to resources.
Ocasio-Cortez, a Democratic Congresswoman from New York, launched a fundraiser, with her press secretary saying she raised nearly $ 5 million for the Texans affected by the storm. And O’Rourke, who unsuccessfully challenged Cruz to the Senate in 2018, ran a virtual phone bank to contact senior citizens in Texas to connect them with resources during the disaster.
McCaul praised their work on Sunday, saying, “I think it’s great that they are crossing party lines to help Americans first, not just Republicans or Democrats.”
“And I think, you know, this is how it really should be.”