Fox News reporter mocks 'Fled' Cruz for returning to help Texans 'right after he finishes a margarita'

Mark Steyn and Trace Gallagher
(Image credit: Screenshot/Twitter/Fox News)

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) got plenty of mockery — and outrage — from his regular critics for flying down to Mexico on Wednesday night as the state he represents in Congress was mired in power outages, water outages, and freezing temperatures. He made it worse by blaming his daughters and suggesting his four-day vacation to the Ritz-Carlton Cancún was actually only ever supposed to be an overnight drop-off mission. "If you like piña coladas and getting caught on a plane..." tweeted Chasten Glezman Buttigieg, husband of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

But even Fox News found Cruz's aborted vacation south of the border to be in bad taste and ripe for ribbing. On Tucker Carlson's show Thursday night, reporter Trace Gallagher outlined the Cruz controversy, then read parts of his shifting statements. "Now he says he wants to help get the power and the water back on — right after he finishes a margarita," he told guest host Mark Steyn, noting his joke and even getting a brief chuckle from Steyn.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.