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AOC and Democratic leaders were volunteering in the state at the same time.
Just days after being criticized for taking a controversial trip to Mexico as millions of Texans suffered from freezing temperatures due to water and power outages, Texas Senator Ted Cruz came under fire for posting photos of himself helping with relief efforts at the same time one of his most important adversaries came to the state to offer help.
Cruz visited some sites in the Houston area on Saturday and Sunday, deliver bottled water to residents and provide food to first responders. Social media posts, which featured the masked Senator with the Texas flag, were greeted with thousands of responses and tweets criticizing Cruz for what many called a “photoshoot” to counter the bad press he had for her trip.
“My constituents forced me to interrupt my vacation in Cancun and all I got was to be ashamed to carry their water”, actress Patricia Arquette tweeted in an answer to Cruz.
Cruz took a trip to Cancun with his family on Wednesday as many areas of the state were still short of electricity, water and other supplies. He was photographed and filmed by passengers at the airport and on the plane and the footage drew a flood of criticism and beatings.
Cruz was due to return on Saturday but flew to Texas on Thursday after the backlash. The senator’s office released a statement claiming the trip was for her two daughters, Caroline and Catherine, and their friends. He later told reporters he had doubts and, looking back, “I wouldn’t have done it.”
Abhi Rahman, spokesperson for the Texas Democrats, said in a statement to ABC News that Cruz’s actions this weekend would not diminish the senator’s ill-advised vacation.
“Ted Cruz showed the world who he was when he left Texas during our greatest time of need. No amount of pimping is going to change that,” he said in a statement.
Cruz’s reps did not immediately return messages to ABC News to comment on his activities this weekend. He was back in Washington DC on Monday for the Senate hearings.
Critics were key to highlighting that Cruz’s social media posts and charitable actions took place at the same time as U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, DN.Y., one of Cruz’s most fervent critics. , flew to Texas to help with relief efforts.
The New York congresswoman partnered with women of Congress from Texas Sylvia Garcia, Penny Morales Shaw and Shelia Jackson Lee to help the Houston Food Bank and raised more than $ 5 million to help families affected by the storm .
Democratic Women in Congress also helped distribute food and water and spoke with families affected by the storm.
“Charity cannot replace politics, but solidarity is the way we are going to face climate change and build a better world”, Ocasio-Cortez tweeted.
In a statement to ABC News, the Houston Food Bank said between Feb. 17 and 21 it distributed 1,000 emergency pallets containing food, water and shelf-stable products. The non-profit organization congratulated the women of the congress for their efforts and their influence.
“Their efforts to amplify awareness of the needs here in Southeast Texas have been of great help,” the Houston Food Bank said in a statement.
Rahman said Democrats in Texas were also grateful for Ocasio-Cortez’s help.
“Texas will not forget who was there for us during our greatest need and we will hold those who weren’t,” he said in a statement.
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