WASHINGTON (TNND) — Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is catching heat on social media over a photo showing him on a plane that had landed in California just days before Texas and the Northeast brace for a historic winter storm.
Political commentator Shea Jordan Smith posted the photo of Cruz deplaning on Tuesday to her X.
“Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) was spotted earlier today, January 20, 2026, on a plane heading to Laguna Beach as the state of Texas braces for a rare ice threat and arctic cold front,” Smith wrote.
Heavy snowfall, sleet, and freezing rain are expected in Texas on Friday, with the storm system bringing significant snow and rain to the Midwest and East Coast later in the weekend. More than two dozen states are under winter storm or ice alerts.
A spokesperson for Cruz defended his travels.
“Senator Cruz is currently on pre-planned work travel that was scheduled weeks in advance,” a spokesperson told KHOU.
“He will be back in Texas before the storm is projected to hit.”
In 2021, Cruz faced major backlash over his decision to fly his family to Mexico amid a winter storm in the Lone Star state which claimed the lives of 246 people. A video showed Cruz and his family in Cancun while millions of Texans were without power.
Cruz said he decided to take his family to Mexico after losing power, but admitted it was poor judgement.
“It was obviously a mistake and in hindsight I wouldn’t have done it,” Cruz said at the time.
“I was trying to make decisions,” Cruz continued. “When you’ve got two girls who’ve been cold for two days and haven’t had heat or power and they’re saying, ‘Look, we don’t have school, why don’t we go, let’s get out of here.”
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