A U.S. senator under fire due to secretive travel to avoid winter storm

U.S. Republican Sen. Ted Cruise has been found to have secretively traveled to the famous resort destination of Cancun in Mexico, while his constituency State of Texas was suffering from the worst situation amid record-breaking cold weather and power blackout, earning massive criticism.

Cruise’s secretive travel was revealed through Twitter. A tweet of a photo in which Senator Cruise and his family were seen taking a flight to Cancun was posted on Twitter on Wednesday night. Only 12 hours after the suspicion was raised, the senator said, “We took trip for my daughters whose schools were closed.” However, before departure he reportedly indicated to his acquaintances in a nuance that he would leave Texas to avoid winter storm by saying “My home is too cold.”

The New York Times acquired and carried his wife’s text message to their friends, reading, “Our home is too cold and we felt like we are freezing to death. So we are going to leave for Ritz Carlton in Cancun,” suggesting them to join. Ritz Carlton Resort in Cancun is a five-star lodging facility, which reportedly costs at least 410 dollars per night per room for four people.

Texas residents in Austin and Houston have been struggling to survive amid a massive blackout and halt of water supply over the past several days. Some people staged a protest rally in front of the senator’s residence, holding banners demanding him to resign.


Min Kim kimmin@donga.com