Texas Senator Ted Cruz’s wife Heidi, 48, was seen walking with her children as they arrived at Cancun airport for their flight back to Texas.
Her husband, 50, had flown out with them on Wednesday while the state was being ravaged by brutal storms that left millions of Texans without power, food, and water for several days.
After Cruz’s photos at the airport went viral and caused an outcry, the Senator returned home the following day.
However, he was criticized again for putting the blame on his children, who “asked to take a trip with friends,” he said.
“This has been an infuriating week for Texans. Like millions of Texans, our family lost heat and power too,” Cruz said. “With school canceled for the week, our girls asked to take a trip with friends. Wanting to be a good dad, I flew down with them last night and am flying back this afternoon.”
However, his justification was later contradicted by leaked text messages in which his wife invited neighbors and friends to “escape for the week” and join them in Mexico.
Parents and guardians of St. John’s School have now slammed their decision to leave and are demanding the family quarantine upon their arrival.
Lara Hollingsworth, who has three children at the school, said to Politico: “At the end of the day, he’s taking this heat for using his children as an excuse for taking a vacation. And that’s a mistake.
“From a parent standpoint, all I’m asking is the school follow the CDC (Centres for Disease Control and Prevention) guidelines, and I need to say I have no reason to believe they won’t.”
Another parent who wishes to remain anonymous said: “It’s enraging to see this politician go out of the country like this and there’s a concern that he would be putting the school at risk if he was trying to sneak out.”
Another mother, Victoria Konar, also said: “You start with the fact that there are people ticked off by those who think they’re the VIPs at this school who don’t want to be bothered to follow the rules because it infringes on their social life.”
A spokesperson for Cruz said that their children will “follow the St. John’s policy” when they arrive in the country.
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