Texas Senator Ted Cruz sparked a flurry of memes on Thursday after being caught flying to Cancun for a Mexican vacation as his state is suffering through one of the worst winter storms and power outages in years.
The storm has caused a major energy crisis, after as many as 4.4million Texans were left without power thanks to a bungled response from its energy distributor. As of Thursday afternoon, 500,000 are stil without power as stores run out of food.
Yet Cruz was pictured with a suitcase and massive overnight bag at the United Airlines lounge, at the gate, and on the plane before his 4pm take-off on Wednesday, even as at least 21 deaths were reported and an emergency declared.
As well as drawing rage from Texas residents, many poked fun at Cruz as they used the pictures of him from the flight to create a wave of memes including one that compared the Senator to former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and his trip to a private beach.
In July 2017, Christie was criticized after he and his family were pictured on a beach that was closed to the public due to a statewide shutdown caused by a lawmakers’ failure to pass a budget.
The memes of Thursday added Cruz to the pictures of Christie and his family with one account quipping ‘The Shawshank reboot looks horrible’.
‘Chris and Ted’s Excellent Adventure in Cancun,’ another joked.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz sparked a flurry of memes on Thursday after being caught flying to Cancun as his state is suffering through one of the worst winter storms and power outages in years including one with Chris Christie and Bernie Sanders
The Lincoln Project, which has targeted Cruz in weeks, joked he couldn’t spend time with friends after he abandoned the trip within less than 24 hours as they posted the image above of the senator on a beach full of minions
Other social media users decided to doctor Cruz into famous historical images such as the moon landing, sailing into Ellis Island, the Tiananmen Square, and at the Normandy landings, as pictured above
Another from user Anne Clayton joked of Cruz sending a postcard back from Mexico to his state, pictured
Cruz is seen standing in-between a man wearing a Trump hat and the rioter known as the Qanon Shaman
Yet more photoshopped Cruz into TV shows and movies, including Forest Gump (pictured) and The Simpsons
Some went a step further and combine Cancun Cruz with the other meme of 2021.
Cruz’ Vermont colleague, Senator Bernie Sanders, in his coat and mittens, that set social media alight on Inauguration Day was doctored into the Christie beach picture.
‘What the hell is Bernie Sanders doing in Cancun during a global pandemic?!’ the Twitter user asked.
Sanders was also photoshopped into a picture of Cruz drinking his coffee as he sat in the airport lounge.
‘History and Bernie have their eyes on you, Ted,’ joked Twitter user Jenny.
Cruz has since carried out a remarkable U-turn and announced on Thursday morning that he is flying back from Cancun less than 24 hours into his vacation.
Another meme from the Lincoln Project, a Republican political action committee that has targeted Cruz in recent weeks, joked that the senator would not get to enjoy his break with his friends.
‘Doesn’t look like Ted is going to get to hang out with his friends after all. Sad,’ it wrote on Twitter, accompanied by an image of Cruz with his suitcase joining a beach full of minions.
Other social media users decided to doctor Cruz into famous historical images such as the moon landing, sailing into Ellis Island, the Tiananmen Square, and in an iconic picture of New York’s Grand Central station.
Cruz and his suitcase were also dropped into pictures of the Normandy landings.
Twitter user @BudGren9 went so far as to edit Cruz into one of the pictures from the pro-Trump riot on the US Capitol on January 6.
The senator’s arrival in Cancun was compared the opening sequence of Jaws, pictured
A meme from @fohtohgirl pointed out the irony in Cruz, a major Trump loyalist, picking Mexico for his vacation. ‘Of all the places, you had to go to Mexico??’ it reads over an image of Trump on the White House lawn shouting at Cruz
Twitter user Greg Price compared Cruz to an episode on The Simpsons in which the mayor claims he has not left the city but is really filming with a backdrop while actually at the beach, as pictured above
Sanders was also photoshopped into a picture of Cruz drinking his coffee as he sat in the airport lounge.
He is seen standing in-between a man wearing a Trump hat and the rioter known as the Qanon Shaman wearing Viking horns.
Other popular memes included several that poked fun at Cruz having abandoned Texas when its residents are in need.
The famous distracted boyfriend meme was used to showed an appalled Texas looking on as Cruz is too busy watching Cancun.
Another from user Anne Clayton joked of Cruz sending a postcard back from Mexico to his state.
‘Wish you were here! Stay warm, Texas!’ it reads.
And another suggested that Cruz had texted former rival in the 2018 Texas Senate race, Beto Rourke, to ‘hold the fort’.
‘B******s caught me flying to Mexico,’ it states. ‘On my way home now.’
A meme from @fohtohgirl pointed out the irony in Cruz, a major Trump loyalist, picking Mexico for his vacation.
‘Of all the places, you had to go to Mexico??’ it reads over an image of Trump on the White House lawn shouting at Cruz.
Yet more photoshopped Cruz into TV shows and movies, including Forest Gump and The Simpsons.
‘My mama always told me that when the goin’ gets tough, you go to Cancun,’ wrote @JDCocchiarella alongside Cruz in the iconic picture of Gump sitting on a park bench.
Twitter user Greg Price compared Cruz to an episode on The Simpsons in which the mayor claims he has not left the city but is really filming with a backdrop while actually at the beach.
Cruz and his family had been planning on staying in a resort they’ve visited before, sources said, though it’s unclear which exactly.
Last year, they stayed at the Nizuc Resort & Spa in Cancun where rooms are $480-a-night.
But as criticism of the trip exploded on Thursday morning, with many furious Texans demanding to know why he hadn’t stayed behind to help in the crisis, he seemed to change his plans.
Shortly before lunchtime, anonymous sources close to the Republican Senator told The New York Times that he would be returning on Thursday. He was on the list for a business class upgrade on one of the afternoon flights out of Cancun on Thursday afternoon.
To re-enter the US from a foreign country, all passengers must first test negative for COVID-19 by law. They’re then advised by the CDC to obtain a negative COVID test again, three to five days after they return, and quarantine for a full seven days after they return.
Texas has no quarantine laws for entering from another country or state.
His vacation came as the situation in Texas is so bad that people are being told to boil water before drinking to reduce any possible contaminants due to a failure in water pressure and plants.
Many can’t because they don’t have the power to do it.
People have abandoned their frozen homes in Texas to seek warmth in shelters across the state.
On Thursday morning, the Mayor of Galveston said the ‘human suffering’ he was witnessing was ‘very concerning’ and that the situation was worse than any hurricane the state has experienced because it’s affecting the whole state and not just the coast.
Cruz said earlier this week that his home hadn’t lost power, and that he and his wife had welcomed in their children’s friends who weren’t as lucky.