Did Ted Cruz fly to Cancun during the Texas winter disaster?

Photos circulating on Twitter Wednesday afternoon are intended to show Texas Senator Ted Cruz on a flight to Cancun, Mexico, during the state’s historic disaster.

The images show a man with a striking resemblance to Cruz at an airport of the year on a plane. Cruz’s office did not respond to any requests for comment, but this story will be updated if they do. Other reporters said they had also reached out but did not listen to them again.

Some Twitter details claimed to match a mask, goggles, a ring, tennis shoes and headphones with previous posts on social media. In a photo is Cruz’s wife, who has appeared on national television, next to him.

One of the details cited clues from a photo that Cruz puts at Houston International Airport, near the terminal, for a flight from United to Cancun at 4:10 p.m.

Less than an hour later, the UA1020 took off for Cancun and landed at 7:52 p.m., according to online flight records.

Still, others thought the photos could be taken out of context or from a past trip. In fact, there is no smoking gun and Cruz has not yet commented.

Announcements

Among those sharing the photos is a state legislator from Cruz’s hometown of Houston.

“Guess which U.S. senator from Texas flew to Cancun while the state froze and had to boil water,” said State Representative Gene Wu, D-Houston.

Keith Edwards, a Democratic agent who worked on Georgia Sen. Jon Ossof’s campaign, tweeted that people traveling with Cruz had confirmed the veracity of the photos in direct messages.

Nothing in Cruz’s most recent Twitter timeline mentions travel. He has shared resources for the storm, including information about a heating center in San Antonio and a request for South Texas residents to donate blood if they can.

Reports of Cruz’s alleged vacation quickly spread on social media, catapulted by the frustrated freezing of the jeans. This, after a failure of the state’s electricity grid, forced millions of people in the state to spend days without sustained energy at low freezing temperatures. If true, the trip would add even more insults to the injury of a battered state facing a historic disaster.

Announcements

Rick Perry: Texans would rather be powerless for days than have more federal oversight

Governor Greg Abbott: Everyone needs more ERCOT transparency

Power outages remain for millions as another icy storm appears