{"id":144624,"date":"2026-01-22T12:12:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T12:12:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/144624\/"},"modified":"2026-01-22T12:12:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T12:12:08","slug":"texas-sen-ted-cruz-brushes-off-critics-for-flying-to-california-before-texas-struck-by-winter-storm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/144624\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas Sen. Ted Cruz brushes off critics for flying to California before Texas struck by winter storm"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) set the record straight after he was criticized for flying to California on a planned trip ahead of a \u201ccatastrophic\u201d winter storm projected<\/a> to blast through the Lone Star State this weekend.<\/p>\n

The 55-year-old politician was photographed standing up out of his seat and in a crowded aisle on a United Airlines flight that had reportedly just landed in the Golden State on Tuesday,\u00a0just under five years after he faced calls to resign when he flew his family to Mexico during a deadly winter storm.<\/p>\n

\u201cSenator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) was spotted earlier today, January 20, 2026, on a plane heading to Laguna Beach as the state of Texas braces for a rare ice threat and arctic cold front,\u201d political commentator Shea Jordan Smith wrote on X.<\/a><\/p>\n

US Sen. Ted Cruz was spotted on a plane that had landed in California on Jan. 20, 2026, days before a winter storm was forecast to strike his home state of Texas. X\/Shea Jordan Smith<\/p>\n

Cruz\u2019s office responded to the viral photo that has been viewed more than 8 million times, saying the trip had been planned before the storm was forecasted.<\/p>\n

\u201cSenator Cruz is currently on pre-planned work travel that was scheduled weeks in advance. He will be back in Texas before the storm is projected to hit,\u201d a spokesperson for his office told KHOU.<\/a><\/p>\n

The furious snow and ice storm\u00a0will be a \u201cwidespread potentially catastrophic event from Texas to the Carolinas, Ryan Maue, a former chief scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told The Post.<\/a><\/p>\n

The brutal storm is forecasted to bring heavy snowfall, sleet and freezing rain starting Friday in Texas before making its way through the Midwest to the East Coast.<\/p>\n

Up to 2 feet of snow can fall in the southern Appalachians, AccuWeather reported.<\/a><\/p>\n

A billboard reads \u201cTexans Froze. Ted Fled\u201d in Houston, Texas, on Feb. 19, 2021. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Some social media users condemned Cruz\u2019s flight before learning about his schedule, saying it was a habit for the senator to flee when the temperature drops.<\/p>\n

\u201cFled Cruz is at it again,\u201d one commenter jeered.<\/p>\n

\u201cDude doesn\u2019t like the cold,\u201d another wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m noticing a pattern,\u201d a third mused.<\/p>\n

Other commenters raced to question what legal powers and abilities the three-term senator has during a storm.<\/p>\n

\u201cWtf did you expect him to do? Come clear your driveway?<\/p>\n

\u201cSenator Cruz\u2019s job requires paper and pencil. He should have every right to leave the state during state of emergencies just like any other civilian,\u201d another user added.<\/p>\n

Sen. Ted Cruz arrives at the US Capitol on Jan. 14, 2026. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Other users pointed to California Gov. Gavin Newsom\u2019s trip to Switzerland, where he was \u201cfrolicking\u201d at the World Economic Forum<\/a> during President Trump\u2019s speech.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you equally upset with all the other politicians in Davos while a storm heads towards their constituents, or are you just being a hypocritical little b\u2014h?\u201d a X user said.<\/p>\n

Critics were also quick to compare Cruz\u2019s flight on Tuesday to his infamous impromptu vacation to Cancun in 2021 after Texas was struck by the deadly Winter Storm Uri.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStart your day with all you need to know\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMorning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Cruz says his family lost power, and his daughters<\/a> were off from school and had wanted to escape the cold.<\/p>\n

The family was caught on video soaking up the sun in Mexico while thousands across their home state were reeling without power and food.<\/p>\n

Officials found 246 people died in Texas as a result of the storm, according to the Texas Tribune<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Sen. Ted Cruz speaks to reporters at the US Capitol on Jan. 15, 2026. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Cruz cut his vacation short and flew back to his Houston home, saying he regretted taking the trip the second he boarded the flight.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was obviously a mistake<\/a> and in hindsight I wouldn\u2019t have done it,\u201d he told the Dallas Morning News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was trying to make decisions. When you\u2019ve got two girls who\u2019ve been cold for two days and haven\u2019t had heat or power and they\u2019re saying, \u2018Look we don\u2019t have school why don\u2019t we go, let\u2019s get out of here,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Cruz was also criticized for vacationing in Greece<\/a> while devastating floods killed 135 people<\/a> in Texas\u2019 Hill Country last summer.<\/p>\n

He was photographed taking pictures at the famed Parthenon during his family\u2019s pre-planned vacation when the floods struck early July 4.<\/p>\n

The photo came as Cruz said he flew back to Texas \u201cas fast as humanly possible,\u201d leaving Sunday and returning to the Lone Star State that night. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) set the record straight after he was criticized for flying to California on a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":144625,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8,18914,13,72172,564,3586,1068],"class_list":["post-144624","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-flights","tag-politics","tag-ted-cruz","tag-texas","tag-us-news","tag-winter-storm"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144624","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=144624"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144624\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/144625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=144624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=144624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=144624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}