Overview
- Cruz announced on X that he was back in Houston and joked about stopping the weather with a wave of his hand.
- A photo posted by Shea Jordan Smith showed Cruz on a flight to Laguna Beach, and the image quickly spread online.
- Cruz’s office said the California travel was a pre-planned work trip and pledged he would be back before the weather turned.
- The episode unfolded as forecasts warned of a rare ice threat and an arctic front moving into parts of Texas.
- Coverage referenced Cruz’s 2021 Cancún trip during Winter Storm Uri, for which he later apologized.