Overview
- Cruz posted on X Friday that he had returned to Texas and joked about stopping the storm with a raised hand.
- The image of him on a flight reportedly bound for Laguna Beach, shared Tuesday by Houston political figure Shea Jordan Smith, spread widely on social media.
- A spokesperson said the senator left on Tuesday for scheduled travel and would return before the weather system, a timeline Cruz echoed in his post.
- Online reaction revived criticism of his 2021 Cancun trip during Winter Storm Uri, which he later called a mistake.
- Forecasts warned of life‑threatening cold, heavy snow and ice across dozens of states, and the National Weather Service urged people to avoid travel and prepare for possible multi‑day outages as parts of Texas saw freezing rain and early power cuts.