Ted Cruz Apologizes for Going to Cancún Amid Situation Created by Snowstorms in Texas

February 20, 2021

The Cuban-origin senator Ted Cruz apologized this Thursday after traveling to Mexico to spend his family vacation, something he later considered as "obviously a mistake" for doing so in the midst of the deadly winter storm that left hundreds of thousands without electricity in Texas.

Cruz returned the same Thursday to the United States after the uproar caused by his disappearance. At a press conference held after his return, he said he began to doubt the trip from the moment he boarded the plane on Wednesday.

The senator's trip to Cancún received strong criticism from leaders of both parties and was seen as potentially damaging to his future political ambitions.

Ted Cruz explained that he accompanied his family to Cancún a day earlier, after his daughters asked to go on a trip with friends, since school was canceled during the week. "Wanting to be a good father, I flew with them last night and will return this afternoon," he announced on Thursday.

"My staff and I are in constant communication with state and local leaders to get to the bottom of what happened in Texas," he continued. "We want to restore our power, our water, and our warm homes."

He noted that he returned because he realized he needed to be in Texas, although he originally had planned to stay in Mexico throughout the entire weekend.

"I did not want the uproar over this trip to distract even for a moment from the real issues that I believe matter to Texans, which is keeping all of our families safe," Cruz said. "Obviously it was a mistake, and in retrospect, I would not have done it," he said.

It is known that Cruz is considering a second presidential bid in 2024. In recent months he had emerged as a leader in pushing former president Donald Trump's effort to overturn the results of the November elections.

Earlier in the month, there were billboards calling for his resignation along Texas highways. Even the state president of the Republican Party refused to come to Cruz's defense on Thursday.