White House snubs Ted Cruz by saying he’s not welcome on Air Force One for Joe Biden’s trip to Texas because of ‘COVID restrictions’

 The White House trolled Senator Ted Cruz on Thursday, saying he wasn't welcome on Air Force One when President Joe Biden travels to Texas because of coronavirus restrictions.

Biden heads to Texas on Friday to visit the state in the aftermath of a winter storm that left at least 80 people dead and millions without water or power. 

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said that because Dr. Jill Biden is joining her husband on the trip and because of social distancing requirements of COVID, neither Cruz nor fellow Texas Senator John Cornyn would be on the trip.

It's a tradition to invite home state senators on presidential trips of these types even if they are of the opposite party. Cruz and Cornyn are both Republicans. 

'Dr. Biden is traveling, of course, with us to Texas,' Psaki said at her press briefing Thursdsay. 'There are some limitations on space available.'

The White House said Ted Cruz isn't welcome on Air Force One when President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden flies to Texas on Friday to see damage from winter storm

The White House said Ted Cruz isn't welcome on Air Force One when President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden flies to Texas on Friday to see damage from winter storm

'There are some limitations on space available,' White House press secretary Jen Psaki said, citing COVID restrictions as the reason Senator Cruz couldn't fit on Air Force One

'There are some limitations on space available,' White House press secretary Jen Psaki said, citing COVID restrictions as the reason Senator Cruz couldn't fit on Air Force One

White House discusses Biden's planned trip to Texas
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Cruz came under fire last week for flying to Cancun with his family as residents of his state suffered from the cold, many without heat or water. The senator flew back to Texas the next day - after social media users posted pics of him traveling to the Mexican hot spot - and said he regretted making the journey.

Psaki said because of that no members of Congress would join the president on Friday's trip. Biden is spending the day in Houston where he will tour damage with Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and also visit a COVID vaccination center. 

'There are not members,' Psaki said, 'of any party traveling with the president to Texas. But again, he's going to be spending the day traveling with Governor Abbott and surveying the damage on the ground.'

The failure of Texas' power grid during last week's cold snap left more than four million residents without electricity and heat in freezing temperatures.

Many also lost access to water with 14.6 million ordered to boil it before drinking it.  

Most residents have had power and water restored although 7.5 million people in 204 counties remained under boil-water orders. 

So far, nearly 80 people have died - including an 11-year-old boy who froze to death - but that number could rise in the weeks ahead. Many lost their lives in house fires or through carbon monoxide poisoning because people were trying to stay warm.

Meanwhile, Senator Cruz found himself in a storm of his own making after being caught flying to Cancun. 

After multiple social media users posted pics of him traveling, a chastened Cruz returned to his state  and said he 'regrets' flying to Mexico in the middle of the state's energy crisis but insisted he was 'just trying to be a dad'. 

Cruz claimed that his 10 and 12-year-old daughters asked him if they go could go on vacation to Mexico with their friends, so he and his wife took them. 

'It was obviously a mistake and in hindsight I wouldn't have done it,' he said, speaking on arrival at home in Houston last Thursday.

Cruz admits to 'mistake' after fleeing frozen Texas for Cancun
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Ted Cruz, speaking at home in Texas last Thursday afternoon, admitted he made a mistake in flying to Cancun amid the storms

Ted Cruz, speaking at home in Texas last Thursday afternoon, admitted he made a mistake in flying to Cancun amid the storms

'I was trying to be a dad.

'And all of us have made decisions - when you've got two girls who have been cold for two days, and haven't had heat or power, and they are saying: 'Look, we don't have school, why don't we go, let's get out of here.'' 

Before traveling, Cruz's wife Heidi texted friends and neighbors in Texas, encouraging them to join their family in Mexico, the New York Times reported, citing texts of hers that it saw.

Heidi, a managing director in Goldman Sachs' Houston office, said their house was 'FREEZING' and said that their hotel, the $309-a-night Ritz Carlton in Cancun, had excellent security, according to the Times' reporting on her texts. She noted they had stayed at the swanky Ritz many times before.  

Cruz, his wife Heidi and their daughters Caroline and Cathryn were seen boarding a United Airlines flight out of Houston at 4 pm last Wednesday while millions of Texans struggled on without heat or water for the fourth day in a row. 

Pictures of him emerged online and the flight's manifest also revealed that he was on standby for an upgrade to business class. His wife wasn't. 

But as outrage erupted on Thursday morning, the Senator changed his return flight - which had been scheduled for Saturday - to Thursday. 

He then showed up at the airport in Cancun and tried to defend the entire exercise, claiming he was just dropping off his kids because he is a 'good dad' but was returning home to help solve the energy crisis. 

In a statement, he said:  'This has been an infuriating week for Texans. Like millions of Texans, our family lost heat and power too. With school canceled for the week, our girls asked to take a trip with friends.  Wanting to be a good dad, I flew down with them.'  

Senator Ted Cruz at the Cancun International Airport last week as he prepared to fly back to Texas amid outrage over his trip while Texas residents suffered in winter storm

Senator Ted Cruz at the Cancun International Airport last week as he prepared to fly back to Texas amid outrage over his trip while Texas residents suffered in winter storm

Ted Cruz is pictured on last Wednesday afternoon at Houston Airport jetting to Cancun with his wife and kids on a United Airlines flight while more than 3million Texans were freezing in their homes without power

Ted Cruz is pictured on last Wednesday afternoon at Houston Airport jetting to Cancun with his wife and kids on a United Airlines flight while more than 3million Texans were freezing in their homes without power

Cruz is shown with his wife Heidi (right) and one of his two daughters (left)
Cruz is shown with his wife Heidi (right) and one of his two daughters (left)

Cruz is shown with his wife Heidi (right) and one of his two daughters (left) in route to Cancun

On top of outrage over Cruz's trip, he was also mocked and compared to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie who closed all of the state's public beaches in 2017 during a government shutdown over a budget standoff, then took his family to the beach.    

Beto O'Rourke, who closely lost to Cruz in the 2018 Senate race, was among those who criticized him. 

'Cruz seems to believe there isn't much for him to do in Texas for the millions of fellow Texans who remain without electricity/water and are literally freezing,' he tweeted last Wednesday night.   

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