Senator Ted Cruz flew to Cancun, Mexico, with his family for a trip this week as Texas deals with the aftermath of a winter storm that left millions without electricity. An airline source familiar with the situation told CBS News that the Republican senator had planned to fly home on Saturday, but changed his reservation and returned home Thursday afternoon.
Photos of Cruz arriving at the airport for the trip went viral on social media, prompting criticism of the senator for leaving during the crisis. On Thursday, Cruz said he wanted to escort his children who were going on a trip with friends.
“With school canceled for the week, our girls asked to take a trip with friends. Wanting to be a good father, I flew with them last night and I’m flying again this afternoon,” Cruz said. in a statement.
However, a source familiar with the trip said Cruz and his family had originally booked to return to Houston on Saturday, but that they changed the reservation Thursday morning. Cruz returned to Houston Thursday afternoon. His wife and children will return on Saturday as planned, the source said.
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Earlier Thursday, Cruz said he has maintained “constant communication” with local leaders “to get to the bottom” of the Texas power grid failure. “The largest state in the world’s largest country has been without electricity. We have power lines, gas lines and people sleeping in neighbors’ houses. Our houses are freezing and the lights are off. jeans, our family also lost heat and energy. “
At least 34 deaths were attributed to the storm, 20 of the victims were from Texas. Widespread outages left more than 3 million without electricity this week, though most had been restored. More than 350,000 residents still had no power on Thursday afternoon.
Some of Cruz’s political opponents have called for his resignation.
“Ted Cruz leaves for Mexico while the Texans continue to die of cold is not surprising, but it is deeply disturbing and disappointing,” said Gilberto Hinojosa, president of the Texas Democratic Party. “We are in a battle for the soul of our state. We need to restore ethics, competition and a government that works for the people.”
Justin Carissimo and Alan He contributed to this report.