Ted Cruz demands Houston police escort for arrival at airport
Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) needs some serious crisis management assistance at this point.
Not for the millions of Texans who are shivering without power or heat as an extraordinarily severe winter storm knocked out much of the state’s unregulated power grid, but for his own reputation after bringing his family to Cancun, Mexico for a winter vacation in the sun while the state he represents in Congress is suffering an unprecedented disaster of frigid cold and desperation.
After social media exploded in outrage over Cruz’s Marie Antoinette moment, as The View host Meaghan McCain referred to his actions, another aspect of his trip triggered further fiery responses as it was revealed that the senator’s office had asked the Houston Police Department to meet Cruz at the airport as he left for his winter getaway.
JUST IN from @houstonpolice, via @emcabcnewsprod:
"Cruz’s staff contacted HPD personnel at IAH on Wednesday … and requested assistance upon the Senator’s arrival at the airport."
"HPD officers monitored his movements through the terminal."
— Ben Siegel (@bensiegel) February 18, 2021
Presumably, the request by Senator Cruz dragged the officers away from more pressing duties during the emergency to escort the much-reviled senator through the airport corridors safely.
The response to the news on social media was rapid and savage.
Yep. So much for this argument (term used very loosely) @DineshDSouza : pic.twitter.com/sZfHw7FYej
— Alex Skolnick (@AlexSkolnick) February 18, 2021
Add your name to call on prosecutors to ARREST DONALD TRUMP for his crimes!
And he had something to say about the content of the fridge of Nancy Pelosi?
— Piet de Jong (@popkeberend) February 18, 2021
I like Straight to the Point!
2022 let's flush the toilet.— Keith (@Keith66627968) February 18, 2021
https://twitter.com/17vwr/status/1362442018341928965?s=20
The fact that the police agreed is what’s pissing me off
— david christoff (@d_christophor) February 18, 2021
https://twitter.com/EliAlejandroTX/status/1362446662283587585?s=20
And he had something to say about the content of the fridge of Nancy Pelosi?
— Piet de Jong (@popkeberend) February 18, 2021
No, he's asking for escorts upon his return from Cancun today. He's afraid to face the people he was tasked with serving, whose taxpayer funds pay his salary. People are enraged in TX and he knows it. Chickenshit.
— TexasDeepFreeze (@12_07_1961) February 18, 2021
Actually, if the request was made on Wednesday as the source claims, Senator Cruz had not yet booked his return flight home with his tail between his legs.
According to one source, he only changed his return flight from his originally planned date of Saturday to today at 6 AM this morning after the news of his elitist escape from the unfolding disaster became a public controversy.
Spoke to a source at United Airlines, Senator Ted Cruz rebooked his flight back to Houston from Cancun for this afternoon at around 6 a.m. today (Thursday). He was originally scheduled to return on Saturday.https://t.co/QV9xgibIQ9
— Edward Russell (@ByERussell) February 18, 2021
With Senator Cruz already vulnerable politically due to his support of Donald Trump’s seditious “big lie” of a stolen election, it remains to be seen how he will wriggle out of his latest public relations crisis.
Hopefully, Texans will have a long memory and will give Cruz an appropriately cold shoulder when he runs for office again in 2024.
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Vinnie Longobardo is the Managing Editor of Occupy Democrats. He's a 35-year veteran of the TV, mobile & internet industries, specializing in start-ups and the international media business. His passions are politics, music, and art.