Ted Cruz could have returned from vacation days earlier after being spotted sightseeing
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz was pictured at the Parthenon in Greece, reportedly 24 hours after devastating floods hit the Hill Country, killing at least 105 people.
The photo came as Cruz said he flew back to Texas “as fast as humanly possible,” leaving Sunday and returning to the Lone Star State that night.
However, flight data shows multiple earlier flights that could have gotten him home sooner.
Cruz’s office told The Post on Tuesday that he was on a pre-planned vacation with his family when the floods struck early on July 4.
“Within hours, he spoke by phone with Governor Abbott, Lt. Governor (Dan) Patrick, Texas Emergency Management Director Nim Kidd, and President Trump, working to ensure that the maximum federal assets were available for search and rescue,” a spokesperson said.
“He and his team worked closely with local officials and with families of missing girls throughout that time. He promptly booked a flight back home. Given the time difference, he left Athens on Sunday morning and was back in Texas that night. And he was in Kerrville on the ground early Monday morning,” the statement continued, adding that he had returned home “as fast as humanly possible.”
There were multiple flights on Saturday from Athens to major US hubs that would have connected to San Antonio, near the floods — including planes to JFK, Newark, Chicago and Washington Dulles, according to flight data.
It isn’t known how many seats would have been available on those flights.
Cruz, 54, left for the Greek capital, Athens, on Thursday following a Senate vote to pass President Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill.”
On Saturday, at around 6 p.m. local time (11 a.m. Eastern), he was spotted with his wife lining up outside the Parthenon, more than 24 hours after the Guadalupe River burst its banks, according to the Daily Beast.
The floods struck the Texas Hill Country between 4 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. on July 4.
At least one witness recognized Cruz and confronted him, the site reported.
“He was with his family and a lone security guard. As he walked past us, I simply said, ’20 kids dead in Texas and you take a vacation?” the witness told the site.
Cruz “grunted” in response while his wife, Heidi, shot them “a dirty look,” the witness added.
On Monday, the senator told reporters at a press conference in Kerrville that he had been in contact with Trump and local authorities within hours of the floods, seeking support and resources for the community.
“There aren’t words to describe the grief that Texans are feeling,” he wrote on X. “Pray for Texas and Kerr County.
It isn’t the first time Cruz has been accused of going AWOL when his state had an emergency.
In 2021, the former Republican presidential hopeful was given a shellacking after he flew to Cancun, Mexico, while a record winter storm left millions in Texas without power or water.
He defended the vacation at first, saying he was trying to be a “good dad” and that his daughters had asked to take the trip.
However, Cruz later admitted his trip “was obviously a mistake” and that “in hindsight I wouldn’t have done it,” speaking to reporters after returning to his Houston home where protesters and reporters had gathered.
He also faced claims that he had left his dog alone in his freezing home while he and his family fled the statewide emergency.
Although the family pet was left behind, it was “not left alone and was never in peril,” his then-press secretary Jessica Skaggs said at the time.