Heidi Cruz, 48, returned to Texas from her getaway in Cancun, Mexico only days after her husband Senator Ted Cruz, 50, did earlier in the week when he faced backlash for leaving his home state amid power and water outages from a severe winter storm. The wife of the politician was with their two daughters, Caroline, 12, and Catherine, 10, who were also on the trip, as they carried luggage, backpacks, and stuffed animals. They also wore face masks.
The return comes the day after Heidi and her girls were seen spending time on a Cancun beach. The mother of two wore a bright red bikini and sunglasses as she waded in the blue water during the sighting before joining her daughters on the sand. She had a low bun in her hair and seemed relaxed as she took in the sun’s rays.
Heidi and Ted both caused controversy on Feb. 17 when photos of them preparing to travel to the Mexican location made their way on Twitter at the same time four million Texans were suffering from the effects of the storm, which started three days before. They were photographed at Houston’s George Bush International Airport and after the Senator started getting called out online, like in the tweet below, and other outlets, he made a statement the following morning about his reason for leaving when he did.
Sen. Ted Cruz did nothing for New York during Hurricane Sandy but run his mouth. Sen. Ted Cruz did nothing for California during the wildfires except run his mouth. Sen. Ted Cruz did nothing for Texas during the Polar Freeze but run to Cancun!
— alan (@willys4141) February 20, 2021
The statement explained “with school canceled for the week, our girls asked us to take a trip with friends.” He then said he was trying to be “a good dad” by accompanying them on the flight there and insisted he was “flying back this afternoon.” Soon after, however, it was revealed that he appeared to use his children as a scapegoat as The New York Times released leaked private text messages between Heidi and some of her neighbors.
In the messages, she allegedly said she wanted to go on the Cancun trip to get away from her “FREEZING” house and invited her neighbors to come along and stay at the Ritz-Carlton in Cancun, where there would be “good security.”
After Ted returned to Texas on Feb. 18, he spoke with reporters to further explain the situation. He called the decision to leave for Cancun “obviously a mistake” and said he had “second thoughts” as soon as he boarded the plane.
“The plan had been to stay through the weekend with the family,” he said while also addressing that it was “a tough week” for his daughters. “On the one hand, all of us who are parents have a responsibility to take care of our kids, take care of our families. But I also have a responsibility that I take very seriously of fighting for the state of Texas.”
Although most power was returned to Texans by Feb. 20, millions are still without running water, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality said, according to The New York Times.