Ted Cruz, of all people, is complaining about Texas Democrats fleeing their state

The situation surrounding fleeing legislators in Texas continues to escalate, and amid the political fallout, Republican senator Ted Cruz has decided he is in a position to criticise the Democrats involved in preventing the state legislature from passing controversial redistricting plans – yes, really.

As a reminder, new plans for the congressional map of Texas would see districts in Houston, Austin and Dallas carved up to create five extra ones which would have voted for US president Donald Trump in last year’s presidential election.

Unsurprisingly, local Democrats aren’t keen on that idea, branding it a “Trump gerrymander”.

Therefore, they have fled Texas to prevent the House of Representatives from being quorate and reaching the magic number required to pass the proposals, while Republicans are pressing for their return.

In a press release issued on Saturday, Texas attorney general Ken Paxton said: “Texans are fed up with lawmakers who refuse to do their jobs and instead run away to states like California to exploit radical governors’ broken political systems as a shield. Gavin Newsom may be comfortable with lawlessness and the protection of corrupt legislators, but Texas will not tolerate elected officials who defy the Constitution for political theater.”

Paxton issued the comments as both Paxton and Texas House speaker Dustin Burrows filed a legal complaint in California to carry out arrest warrants issued by their state’s House of Representatives against the fleeing Democrats.

Burrows added: “The Texas House stands ready to conduct the work expected of us by our constituents, but until the absent members return, our state will continue to do without critical disaster relief and solutions for a more prepared and resilient Texas.

“This political game holding up our efforts has gone on long enough. All members will eventually have to come back, but the business before the House is too important to wait on the outside political influences pushing these members to delay the inevitable.

“Working with Attorney General Paxton, I will continue taking all necessary actions to bring these members back to fulfil their obligations to the legislative process and the people of our state.”

California governor Gavin Newsom later responded to remarks made against him by Paxton with a considerable amount of sarcasm.

“You should definitely use ALL resources looking for them here, Ken. You will TOTALLY find them here,” he wrote on Twitter/X.

This prompted Cruz to intervene, as he replied: “I assume they’re having dinner with you at The French Laundry.”

That’s a famous restaurant in California, for those wondering.

However, things soon backfired for Cruz, as people were quick to point out that he was caught up in a controversy of his own when it comes to not being in the state of Texas when people expect you to be.

Back in February 2021, Cruz decided it was a good idea to jet off to Cancun amid a power crisis in Texas caused by devastating winter storms.

He later conceded this was “obviously a mistake” and something he “wouldn’t have done” in hindsight.

And so, it was fairly easy for Newsom to clap back at Cruz:

Another user, sharing a CNN article from 2021, simply asked: “This you?”

A third was a bit more direct, replying: “Says the f***ing a**hole who fled to Cancun?”

While journalist Mehdi Hasan said Cruz’s comment “might have been a half-decent burn” if he hadn’t been caught up in that scandal from four years ago:

And we understand if you’re feeling a sense of déjà vu right about now, as Cruz thought he was qualified to criticise Democrats for carrying out the same protest (fleeing the state to prevent the Texas House from reaching quorum) back in 2021, months after his widely condemned Cancun trip.

Julián Castro, the former US housing secretary, said at the time: “Texas Democrats left the state to fight for voting rights. Ted Cruz left the state to sip drinks on a Cancun beach.

“I’d sit this one out, Ted.”

Why not read…

• Texas Democrats leave their own state to fight Trump – here’s why
• Meghan McCain takes aim at Andrew Cuomo over bizarre campaign post

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