The Babylon Bee Posts Perfect Response to the Media Pearl-Clutching Over Ted Cruz's Cancun Trip

One of the hottest stories on the Twitter machine right now and in media/left-wing circles is about how Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) was spotted at an airport Wednesday with his family as they waited for a flight to Cancun, Mexico.

The social media platform was flooded with pictures last night and into today of what appeared to be Cruz and members of his family at the airport with luggage in hand. Not surprisingly, the condemnations were fast and flowing, with media figures, leftists, and even some on the right criticizing Cruz for leaving the United States for a much warmer country and climate at a time when millions of his state’s residents are without power and freezing:

Caught tonight! @TedCruz fleeing to CANCUN while his home state freezes with no running water or electricity

retweet pic.twitter.com/8jHzF4Qk0L

— Make it Rain ☔️🎸 (@Trx1000) February 18, 2021

did… did ted cruz really just fly to cancun today? pic.twitter.com/mLl4W9Cwkv

— sam deutsch (@samdman95) February 18, 2021

Several hours later after Twitter sleuths circulated the photos, Cruz confirmed he did indeed take a trip to Cancun, and issued a statement that read in part:

“With school cancelled for the week, our girls asked to take a trip with friends,” he said. “Wanting to be a good dad, I flew down with them last night and am flying back this afternoon. My staff and I are in constant communication with state and local leaders to get to the bottom of what happened in Texas. We want our power back, our water on, and our homes warm. My team and I will continue using all our resources to keep Texans informed and safe.”

Read the full statement from Cruz. Below that is a photo of him returning back to the U.S.:

New Statement from @tedcruz: pic.twitter.com/0WMni5O9R1

— Vaughn Hillyard (@VaughnHillyard) February 18, 2021

Senator Ted Cruz wheels his luggage at Cancun International Airport in Mexico before boarding a plane back to the U.S., while his home state of Texas grapples with a deadly deep freeze. Read more: https://t.co/nw7qAbV9cZ pic.twitter.com/mHCNp3WPf5

— Reuters Pictures (@reuterspictures) February 18, 2021

I have seen even some of Cruz’s more ardent supporters on social media point out how though Cruz didn’t do anything wrong here the optics were still really bad. While that appears to be the prevailing assessment of many on the right, the Babylon Bee weighed in with their own hot take on the controversy – and, as usual, it was spot-on:

Media Informs Ted Cruz You Can Only Travel During A Crisis If You're A Democrathttps://t.co/lLOVVCiuGj

— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) February 18, 2021

From the Bee’s “report”:

“You can only get away with traveling during a crisis if you specifically tell people to stay home and then don’t stay home yourself!” screamed a CNN journalist on the scene as Cruz landed. “Oh, and of course, you have to be a liberal!”

A Univision reporter shouted, “Ay, Caramba!” which is reportedly a Spanish phrase meaning, “Your hypocrisy is unforgivable because you are a Republican, you moron!”

Right? I mean we know the chances of Cruz being on the receiving end of so much heat from the Usual Suspects for taking the trip to Cancun would be slim to none if he was a Democrat. As usual, the (D) makes all the (D)ifference.

That said, while the optics of the trip were indeed bad, at least he hadn’t lectured his political opposition about wearing masks and then later appeared maskless at a shuttered hair salon, or tried to shame people for planning family gatherings around the holidays though he’d attended a gathering himself, or…