The Houston Chronicle on Thursday night published an editorial calling on Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) to resign for skipping town in favor of a Cancun getaway as millions of Texans suffered through power outages and a loss of running water amid unrelenting winter storm damage.
The editorial board, which had previously called for Cruz’s resignation last month for his role in the Capitol riot, said that “escaping to Mexico hits a new low — even by the senator’s own standards.”
“Texans’ anger with Ted Cruz right now could power an entire electrical grid,” Chronicle editors wrote, adding: “He got a ticket to ride and he don’t care.”
The paper’s editorial board noted that Cruz had banked much of his 2018 reelection campaign around a message of compassion that credited Cruz with supporting those hard hit during Hurricane Harvey. In one TV ad, his campaign claimed that “Ted Cruz stood up for you,” during the state’s debilitating disaster.
“Not this time,” editors said. “He plopped himself down on a direct flight to paradise and left us to fend for ourselves in this frozen hell,” noting the junior senator’s well-documented “deficits in compassion.”
Cruz was further disparaged in the editorial for pinning the blame for his getaway on his young daughters — framing his decision to flee the state under a guise of good parenting.
“Cry us a Mai Tai,” editors wrote, questioning the claim, which was later blown up after texts from the senator’s wife leaked to The New York Times revealed his wife’s own desire to escape the state’s winter wreckage.
“Take our advice, senator, and resign,” editors wrote. “Seems like you could use a break and we could, too, from an ineffective politician who, even in crisis, puts his personal itinerary before the needs of Texans.”
