“Look, when a crisis hits my condition, I’m here. I’m not going on vacation,” McCaul, the top Republican on the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, told CNN’s Dana Bash on “The State of the Union “. Sunday.
“I know Mr. Cruz called it a mistake and he admitted it, but I think it was a big mistake and I was on the ground trying to help my people and my constituents, and that’s what we should be doing in times of crisis, ”he added.
McCaul’s comments join a wave of disapproval targeting Cruz since he was spotted on a plane bound for Cancun as millions of people in his home state were left without power or water. Back in Houston Thursday afternoon, Cruz told reporters outside his home that it was “obviously a mistake” and that “in hindsight I wouldn’t have done it”.
As an elected official to federal office, Cruz has no role on the ground in responding to the storm, but natural disasters are often a time when voters turn to their elected officials for help and access to resources. .
Ocasio-Cortez, a Democratic congresswoman from New York, launched a fundraiser, her publicist saying on Sunday that she had raised nearly $ 5 million for Texans affected by the storm. And O’Rourke, who unsuccessfully challenged Cruz for the Senate in 2018, ran a virtual phone bank to reach out to seniors in Texas, to connect them with resources during the disaster.
McCaul praised their work on Sunday, saying, “I think it’s great that they are crossing party lines to help Americans first, and not just Republicans or Democrats.”
“And I think that’s how it really should be.”