Ted Cruz’s wife texted neighbours inviting them to flee ‘freezing’ homes to Mexican resort

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) checks in for a flight at Cancun International Airport after a backlash over his Mexican family vacation as his home state of Texas endured a Winter storm. The Republican politician came under fire after leaving for the warm holiday destination as hundreds of thousands of people in the lone star state suffered a loss of power

Credit: Dan Christian Rojas/AP Photo

Ted Cruz has faced condemnation from Texans as leaked text messages showed his wife had planned a four-day family break in Mexico as millions in the storm-ravaged state went without power.

Heidi Cruz sent a group text message to friends saying their home was “FREEZING” and  they "couldn’t stand it anymore". She asked if anyone wanted to join a trip to Cancun, Mexico and suggested the Ritz-Carlton hotel.

According to the messages, leaked to the New York Times, Mrs Cruz wrote: "Anyone can or want to leave for the week? We may go to Cancun there is a direct flights at 4:45pm and hotels w capacity. Seriously. Covid test to come back which we will take there."

She added: "The Ritz Carlton has rooms at like $300 and we’ve been there many times great property god security etc no issues."

Mr Cruz, who lives in Houston and represents Texas as a US senator, has been lambasted for the trip.

Texas has been plunged into chaos by a devastating snow storm which left millions, including the Cruz family, without electricity.

Mr Cruz and his family left on Wednesday afternoon but, after being spotted at the airport, he issued a statement. The senator said he was just being a "good Dad" by taking his two daughters to Mexico.

He said they had asked to go on a trip with friends, given that school was cancelled for the week, and he was flying back on Thursday.

However, after returning, amid widespread questioning of his explanation, Mr Cruz confirmed he had originally been scheduled to stay in Mexico through the weekend.

The senator said he began second-guessing the trip the moment he first got on the plane.

He said: "It was obviously a mistake. In hindsight, I wouldn’t have done it."

The trip was condemned by Democrats and Republicans, and could harm Mr Cruz’s ambitions to be the Republican presidential nominee in 2024.

He finished second to Donald Trump last time there was a race for the Republican nomination in 2016. Allen West, chairman of the Texas Republican Party, said: "It’s something that he has to answer to his constituents about.

"I’m here trying to take care of my family and look after my friends and others that are still without power. That’s my focus."

The extreme weather has been blamed for the deaths of at least 57 people in Texas and nearby states. After five days of outages many Texans now have power back, although 185,000 businesses and homes were still without it on Friday.

The weather affected drinking water systems and seven million people, a quarter of the Texas population, were told to boil tap water before drinking it.