Ted Cruz Jokes About That Time He Abandoned Constituents For A Cancun Trip
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) was slammed by critics over the weekend for cracking a joke about his controversial Cancun getaway to attack President Joe Biden for taking a weekend trip to Delaware.
Biden often returns to his home state for weekends, an observation that the GOP Twitter page criticized as “running away from all the problems he has caused.”
Cruz, who infamously flew to Mexico in February as thousands of Texans suffered through a winter storm that left millions without power, shared the GOP’s tweet with his own comment: “Cancun is lovely this time of year.”
Cancun is lovely this time of year. https://t.co/LtCqwKjRCI
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) October 9, 2021
The senator quickly apologized and flew back home following harsh criticism for deserting Texans struggling through the crisis, which left more than 200 people dead across the state.
He’s been panned for joking about the trip before, though he apparently didn’t take the feedback on board.
Weekends in Delaware have long been tradition for Biden, who in the 1970s rode the train home from Washington every night when he was a senator, NPR reported. While there, he reportedly mostly stays at home, though he sometimes leaves to go to Catholic Mass or to play golf.
By August, Biden had spent fewer weekends at the White House than his predecessors Donald Trump and Barack Obama had in that time, according to records kept by former CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller.
All presidents have faced criticism for taking downtime. Though Cruz was notably silent when Trump, who had golfed roughly four times more than Biden at this juncture of his presidency, logged hundreds of rounds at his own resorts during his time in office.
Constituents and critics offered Cruz some more notes after his latest Cancun quip:
Only to Ted Cruz is reminding people of how he abandoned the people of Texas during a massive storm to spend time in Cancun is a good idea https://t.co/0APccnKaet
— (((DeanObeidallah))) (@DeanObeidallah) October 10, 2021
As a constituent of your's, I REALLY don't think your choice to abandon us in our time of need is something for you to joke about. Especially with winter coming & everyone reporting it's going to be much worse than last year. It WASN'T funny then, nor is it funny now.
— erica polo (@TheEricaPolo) October 9, 2021
When you decide to joke about that time you flew to Cancun while your constituents literally froze to death https://t.co/JxfQoPJdrB
— Brandon Friedman (@BFriedmanDC) October 9, 2021
Reminding your constituents of the time you abandoned them at their worst is a great strategy. 👍🏼 https://t.co/6GoRtADqa9
— Jessica Mason for Congress (@JessicaMasonTX) October 10, 2021
Hilarious @tedcruzhttps://t.co/MRAEwp3NhFpic.twitter.com/p5VlpmmIz8
— Mama Doctor Jones | Danielle Jones, MD (@MamaDoctorJones) October 10, 2021
Ted Cruz is joking about fleeing to Cancun while hundreds of Texans die. What an absolute piece of 💩 https://t.co/qEi26QVIB3
— 🌱Olivia Julianna 🌱 (@0liviajulianna) October 10, 2021
I would not be making fun of this… and how many time did spineless Ted complain about trump flying off the play golf? Or his schedule in general?!? What an utter loser… and that is a huge understatement https://t.co/ykVRGckdW0
— Martina Navratilova (@Martina) October 10, 2021
700 Texans froze to death and you headed to Cancun. pic.twitter.com/3jB4rDLYct
— D.B. Miller (@DBMillerIMO) October 10, 2021
This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.