WASHINGTON — Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told reporters Thursday his decision to go on a family vacation to Cancún, Mexico, as Texans suffer without heat, water and power because of a historic winter storm was "a mistake" that he now regrets.
"It was obviously a mistake, and in hindsight I wouldn't have done it," Cruz said outside his home after having returned to Houston, where he was greeted by protesters chanting, "Resign."
"I understand why people are upset," Cruz said. He said that he was trying to make his daughters happy by going with them on the trip but that "leaving when so many Texans were hurting didn't feel right, and so I changed my return flight and flew back on the first available flight."
News of Cruz's trip emerged Wednesday night as pictures of him and his family as they waited at an airport gate with luggage and boarded a plane began circulating on social media.
After Cruz's Senate office did not respond to repeated requests for comment Thursday, Cruz released a statement explaining his decision to leave the state and said he was returning home Thursday afternoon. He said that it has be an "infuriating week for Texans" and that his family had "lost heat and power, too."
"With school cancelled for the week, our girls asked to take a trip with friends," the statement 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," he added.
Cruz gave an account similar to his statement when NBC News encountered him at the airport in Cancún on Thursday before his return flight, suggesting that he had just gone to drop his daughters off.
"We had no heat and no power, and yesterday my daughters asked if they could take a trip with some friends, and Heidi and I agreed, so I flew down with them last night and dropped them off here, and now I'm headed back to Texas and back continuing to work to get the power back on," Cruz said.
A source with knowledge of the situation said that Cruz was initially booked to return home Saturday and that he booked his return ticket at 6 a.m. Thursday.
After he returned home, Cruz acknowledged that he had planned to stay through the weekend, but he said he had second thoughts after he got on the plane.
"I began really second-guessing that decision and saying, look, I know why we're doing this, but I've also got responsibilities, and it had been my intention to work remotely, to be on the phone, be on internet, to be on Zoom, to be engaged. But I needed to be here, and that's why I came back," he said.
Cruz acknowledged that the furious attention on social media also played a role.
"As it became a bigger and bigger firestorm, it became all the more compelling that I come back," he said. "I didn't want all the screaming and yelling about this trip to distract even one moment from the real issues Texans care about, which is keeping all of our families safe."
He said that he would have come back earlier in the day but that he couldn't get on an earlier flight "because the current restrictions require a Covid test, so I had to get a Covid test this morning before I could get on a flight back."
He ended his news conference by telling reporters to "stay warm."
In an interview with KTRK-TV of Houston, Cruz was asked about the outrage in Texas. "In hindsight, if I understood how it would be perceived, the reaction people would have, obviously I wouldn't have done it," he said.
The Senate is in recess this week.
Before Cruz released his initial statement, the Houston Police Department confirmed that Cruz's staff asked it Wednesday afternoon to assist him in his arrival and movements through Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport.
