J. Scott Applewhite/AP
We’ve got some backstory on Sen. Ted Cruz’s direct-flight jaunt to a Ritz-Carlton in Cancun while his constituents cling to life. The New York Times published moments ago revealing family text messages leaked to the paper and deserving of a read, if you can stomach it. The texts fly in the face of what he’d said publicly. Here’s my colleague Inae Oh on what he had swore he was up to:
In a statement that appeared to justify his travel amid twin crises—the ongoing pandemic and Texas’ devastating winter storms—as an effort to placate his daughters, Ted Cruz has finally confirmed his trip to Cancun. “With school canceled for the week, our girls asked us to take a trip with friends,” the Texas senator wrote. “Wanting to be a good dad, I flew down with them last night and am flying back this afternoon. My staff are in constant communication with state and local leaders to get to the bottom of what happened in Texas.”
The text messages reveal something, well, different. From the Times:
Text messages sent from Ms. Cruz to friends and Houston neighbors on Wednesday revealed a hastily planned trip. Their house was “FREEZING,” as Ms. Cruz put it—and she proposed a getaway until Sunday. 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 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.
