You may have heard, but Texas is currently experiencing the biggest energy crisis in the history of the state. Frigid temperatures and snow have blown out the state’s privatized power grid as plants across the state have failed. Millions are freezing and hungry, living without power, heat, and water for days. Officials say it in some places it could be several days more until things are up and running again.
And where is Texas Senator Ted Cruz during all this? Flying off to Cancun, of course.
It appears in the middle of the worst energy crisis in the history of Texas, @tedcruz is on his way to Cancun with his family. pic.twitter.com/aEdiqdn70j
— Sawyer Hackett (@SawyerHackett) February 18, 2021
Pictures of what appear to be Cruz and his family started making the rounds last night on Twitter. Though Cruz’s office still hasn’t confirmed if the senator is indeed taking a vacation, the man in the pictures sure does bear a striking resemblance. Naturally, people were (and are) outraged. A senator flying off to tropical climes while his constituents freeze and suffer through a cataclysmic weather event and energy failure is peak political repugnance. It’s more than just indifference—it’s outright disdain toward the people who voted for him. Boarding a plane to Mexico in plain view just makes it even worse.
And since Cruz is one of the most reviled figures in the Republican Party (and American politics in general), jokes began flying quickly. If his office winds up coming out and telling everyone that Cruz isn’t in Cancun and these pictures are of a very unfortunate man who happens to look exactly like the senator, there will be a lot of egg on faces. But until that moment just about everything coming Cruz’s way is warranted.
(If you’d like to help Texans, Nerdist has compiled a helpful list of local mutual aid funds and other organizations working to get people food, water, and shelter during the crisis. You can find some of their Venmos here as well.)
hahahah oh my god they fucking HATE you, america. the political elite fucking despises you https://t.co/Ib1DWNTHrI
— jordan (@JordanUhl) February 18, 2021
twitter trying to figure out if ted cruz went to cancun pic.twitter.com/jNArEJ4NOJ
— Sopan Deb (@SopanDeb) February 18, 2021
Ted Cruz's statement regarding claims he is in Cancun: pic.twitter.com/Q2pmn8zusn
— Thor Benson (@thor_benson) February 18, 2021
Ted Cruz tweeting a glowing tribute to Rush Limbaugh from a resort in Cancun (where he flew tonight while his constituents are literally freezing to death) is peak @GOP.
— Padma Lakshmi (@PadmaLakshmi) February 18, 2021
Here's my real q about the Ted Cruz photo. Is the junior Senator a closet hypebeast? pic.twitter.com/lFfPQCyFL0
— Christopher Hooks (@cd_hooks) February 18, 2021
ted cruz’s wife is a managing director at goldman sachs which is why he always gets upgraded to economy plus 😎
— america’s lounge singer (@KrangTNelson) February 18, 2021
damning… photo evidence of cruz in cancun as we speak pic.twitter.com/itW1lgzlnC
— kill 💀 tim 💀 faust (@crulge) February 18, 2021
Ted Cruz hitting all the spring break hot spots looking like Zoidberg without his shell
— Patrick Monahan (@pattymo) February 18, 2021
I got this but it might be photoshop pic.twitter.com/eHjwEMxFPB
— bill beatty (@mistabill) February 18, 2021
Please stop spreading the dangerous unconfirmed rumor that Ted Cruz is about to be shirtless
— Jess Dweck (@TheDweck) February 18, 2021
he’s doing WHAT pic.twitter.com/k5x5iAIysp
— Brandy Jensen (@BrandyLJensen) February 18, 2021
ok but what if ted cruz had already planned to go to cancun for bbl surgery and couldn’t cancel?
— Desus Nice (@desusnice) February 18, 2021
Marie Antoinette got got for less than this https://t.co/p8PNRsyK2t
— very eager to declare that we're past morality now (@neoliberal_dad) February 18, 2021
If that’s not Ted Cruz flying to Cancun, I feel really badly for the guy who has to go through his entire life looking like Ted Cruz.
— Dana Goldberg (@DGComedy) February 18, 2021
Breaking: Ted Cruz announces that it wasn't him on that plane to Cancun. Says it was actually "a windmill." pic.twitter.com/PAnHIcT6yY
— Roshan Rinaldi (@Roshan_Rinaldi) February 18, 2021
Ted Cruz went to Cancun? Another insurrectionist allowed to leave the country?
— Tim Hannan (@TimHannan) February 18, 2021
Ghouls Gone Wild https://t.co/nM3bH6NSeO
— francesca fiorentini (@franifio) February 18, 2021