U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) offered up not an apology, and not even an honest explanation, Thursday evening upon returning home from a very short trip to Cancun, alone, after accompanying his wife and two young daughters to the Ritz-Carlton in Mexico for what was supposed to be a five-day get-away.
But new details, including a leaked group text message confirmed by The New York Times expose the two-term Texas Senator as not being honest about the trip.
“Whether the decision to go was tone-deaf, look, it was obviously a mistake, and in hindsight I wouldn’t have done it,” Cruz told reporters in front of his house as protestors called for him to resign.
Tone-deaf, many noted, was being especially kind.
“I was trying to be a dad,” he insisted, not understanding that good parents teach children about responsibility, community, and taking care of those who put their trust in you by electing you, not running off to a foreign country when the going gets tough.
“All of us have made decisions, when you’ve got two girls who have been cold for two days, and haven’t had heat or power and they’re saying, ‘Hey look we don’t have school, why don’t we go, let’s get outta here.'”
That claim echoed one he made in a statement released after he decided to cut short the trip and head back to Texas, where millions are just getting power back, but suffering extreme cold weather and in many cases no water, and burst pipes, and other damage.
In his statement Cruz claimed: “With school cancelled for the week, our girls asked to take a trip with friends. Wanting to be a good dad, I flew down with them last night and am flying back this afternoon.”
But leaked group texts, The New York Times reports, show Senator Cruz’s wife Heidi initiated the offer and idea of the trip, telling friends their house, like millions of other Texans’ homes, was “FREEZING.”
“Ms. Cruz invited others to join them at the Ritz-Carlton in Cancún, where they had stayed ‘many times,’ noting the room price this week ($309 per night) and its good security,” The Times reports. “The text messages were provided to The New York Times and confirmed by a second person on the thread, who declined to be identified because of the private nature of the texts.”
Cruz in his statement also revealed a lack of understanding of what his job is, especially during a crisis.
“In a local emergency,” says Matt Glassman, a senior fellow from the Government Affairs Institute at Georgetown University, lawmakers “are conduit to tons of resources and a resource who can effectively coordinate certain sets of actors and lean on people to make things happen. Can very much turn into administrators.”
In other words, Cruz’s constituents needed his help, but he chose to leave them, revealing to Texans and his daughters he’s neither a good role model, lawmaker, or dad.