On Monday, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz shared a video that an X user falsely claimed shows that the Biden Administration is cutting holes in Trump’s border wall. Credit: Wikimedia Commons / Gage Skidmore

With freezing temperatures settled in across his home state of Texas, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz for some reason thought it would be funny to make a joke about his trip to 2021 Cancun during a deadly winter storm that left millions without power.

“Texans, with the freeze coming, wrap your pipes, cover your plants, stay off ice roads and keep your family safe,” Cruz tweeted on Sunday in what we should point out isn’t the Republican senator’s first attempt to make light of his widely derided Cancun trip. “And, if it gets too damn cold, join me in Cancun!”

Just to make sure we all got his stab at humor, Cruz shared video of a Saturday Night Live sketch mocking his ill-timed trip to the Mexican resort town.

With memories fresh from 2021’s Winter Storm Uri — which killed at least 246 people and cost the state $195 billion — politicians, reporters and plain-old constituents were quick to condemn Cruz’s attempt to make light of the matter.

State Sen. Roland Gutierrez, a San Antonio Democrat vying to challenge Cruz, in the upcoming election, came out with both barrels blazing.

“People died, and those people have families,” Gutierrez tweeted in response. “I damn sure wouldn’t ever accuse you of having a shred of human decency, Ted Cruz, but there’s one thing you might care to consider: those families vote. And together, we’ll defeat you.”

San Antonio District 2 Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez said he didn’t find much humor in Cruz’s tweet.

“This is not camp, it’s not cute, and it’s not funny,” McKee-Rodriguez responded on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

Meanwhile, Houston Chronicle and Express-News political reporter Jeremy Wallace wrote that while Cruz might be trying to show a willingness to own up to his past mistake, the joke simply isn’t funny for people affected by Uri.

“A little surprised that Ted Cruz keeps reminding us that he went to Cancun when the rest of us were in deadly conditions,” Wallace tweeted. “I get he’s trying to be a good sport, but I’m not sure that is how this comes off to people who lost loved ones and suffered home damage during the 2021 storms.”

As of press time, Cruz’s tweet has garnered some 4,000 comments, largely negative. (Surprise, surprise!) It’s also racked up 8 million views.

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This article appears in Jan 10-23, 2024.

Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...