Ted Cruz won't travel with Biden on Texas trip following Cancun gaffe
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said 'there are some limitations on space available'
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Sen. Ted Cruz, R-TX, will not accompany President Biden on Air Force One during his trip to assist with recovery efforts and survey damage related to destructive winter weather conditions in Texas, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday.
Biden is set to tour the state with Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott to review ongoing relief operations following subfreezing temperatures that left millions of residents without power or heat. Presidents often invite senators to travel with them from Washington D.C. during trips to their home states.
Neither Sen. John Cornyn nor Cruz, who faced intense criticism for taking a family vacation to Cancun, Mexico, at the height of Texas’ power crisis, will travel with Biden. When asked about the situation, Psaki cited space limitations on Air Force One.
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CRUZ ADMITS CANCUN TRIP 'OBVIOUSLY A MISTAKE'
"Dr. Biden is traveling, of course, with us to Texas," Psaki said, referencing the First Lady. "There are some limitations on space available, so there are not members, I don’t believe, of any party traveling with the president to Texas. But again, he’s going to be spending the day traveling with Gov. Abbott and surveying the damage on the ground."
Psaki added that she would "double-check" on whether Cruz would join Biden at some point during the trip.
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"I’m not aware of their plans to participate in the events tomorrow."
Last week, Cruz faced calls to resign after posts circulated on social media showed him and family members boarding a plane to Mexico amid the sweeping power outages. In leaked text messages, Cruz’s wife, Heidi, invited neighbors to join the family at a Cancun resort for a multi-day stay.
The senator flew back to his home state within 24 hours amid a mounting outcry.
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Cruz later said the trip was "obviously a mistake" and noted that he had planned to work remotely.
"In hindsight, I wouldn’t have done it," Cruz told reporters upon his return. "I was trying to be a dad, and all of us have made decisions, when you have two girls who have been cold for two days and haven’t had heat or power and they’re saying, ‘Hey look, we don’t have school, let’s get out of here.'
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"I think there are a lot of parents that would be like, 'If I can do this, great.' That’s what I wanted to do. As I said, really from the moment I sat on the plane, I began really second-guessing that decision."
While Biden travels to Texas, Cruz is slated to deliver a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida, on Friday. Cruz’s speech is entitled, "Bill of Rights, Liberty, and Cancel Culture."