Ted Cruz should have listened to Thomas Jefferson.
The third President wrote, “When a man assumes a public trust, he should consider himself as public property.” His point was that leadership is an obligation and the conventions of private life don’t apply to politicians. Put another way, you don’t jet off to a sun-drenched beach resort in Mexico when your home state is suffering from a freak blitz of snow and ice that left millions without power or running water.
You can only wonder what the Texas senator was thinking after committing the most basic political error — deserting constituents in their hour of need. Never mind that the US government strongly advises against travel to Mexico during the pandemic, and Cruz himself warned Texans to stay home due to dangerous weather.
As is often the case in such flaps, Cruz’s ham-fisted efforts to extricate himself have backfired spectacularly. He bolted home once his escape to the sun was exposed, and released a statement protesting he was trying to be a good dad because his daughters wanted a trip to Cancun. Cruz doesn’t have a formal role in responding to the storm, but as a senator, he has influence in Washington and could help mobilize support for his state, in addition to offering solidarity to its citizens.
His many enemies — especially fellow Republican senators who long ago tired of Cruz’s grandstanding — will be gloating, not least because he’s usually first in line to accuse others of hypocrisy. In 2016, Cruz blasted then-President Barack Obama for refusing to leave a trip to Cuba for Washington or Europe after a terror attack in Belgium. In December, he slammed the Democratic mayor of Austin for flying to Mexico after telling people in his city to stay home to avoid Covid-19.
Still, consistency has never been Cruz’s forte. He called Donald Trump a “serial philanderer” and a “pathological liar” after the then-Republican presidential candidate insulted his wife and accused his father of being mixed up in JFK’s assassination. Outraged, Cruz vowed he would never be a “servile puppy dog” and make up with his rival. Yet the Calgary-born Texan, eyeing another presidential run and Trump’s fanbase, turned out to be one of the ex-President’s most obsequious enablers.
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