The office of Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, defended the timing of his return from a family vacation to Greece, telling media outlets that Cruz was back in Texas "as fast as humanly possible" amid backlash targeting his absence when floodwaters killed scores in his home state on Friday.
Cruz was already in Greece when flooding occurred in the Hill Country of Texas on July 4. At issue, however, is that Cruz was spotted visiting the Parthenon in Athens on Saturday, around 6 p.m. local time, after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott had issued a disaster declaration, CNN reported. A tourist snapped a photo of Cruz and posted it to social media.
"The Senator was already in the middle of preplanned family vacation travel overseas when the flooding occurred on July 4. Within hours, he spoke by phone with Governor (Greg) Abbott, Lt. Governor (Dan) Patrick, Texas Emergency Management Director Nim Kidd, and President (Donald) Trump, working to ensure that the maximum federal assets were available for search and rescue," Cruz’s office said in a statement to media outlets on Monday.
"He and his team worked closely with local officials and with families of missing girls throughout that time. He promptly booked a flight back home. Given the time difference, he left Athens on Sunday morning and was back in Texas that night. And he was in Kerrville on the ground early Monday morning," the statement continued.
The death toll stands at more than 100 as rescuers continue searching for some missing campers and a counselor from Camp Mystic in Kerr County, Texas, a summer camp for girls wedged along the Guadalupe River.
Cruz faced similar backlash in 2021 when he left for a vacation to Cancun, Mexico, amid Winter Storm Uri that left millions without power and water for days. Cruz would later say that decision was "obviously a mistake."
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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