Senator Cruz’s Greek Getaway Stirs Outrage During Texas Floods

It’s déjà vu all over again for Texas Senator Ted Cruz, who’s facing another PR disaster after staying in Greece while floodwaters ravaged Central Texas, killing more than 100 people, including 27 children.

Casually Touring the Parthenon

As rescue crews searched debris along the Guadalupe River, Cruz was spotted touring the Parthenon in Athens—nearly 24 hours after the flood disaster began. His office later claimed the senator returned to Texas “as fast as humanly possible.” But flight data says…not quite.

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According to reporting by The Swamp from The Daily Beast, multiple earlier flights were available out of Athens on Friday, July 4 and Saturday, July 5, connecting through major hubs like Atlanta, Chicago, and D.C.—all of which could’ve had the senator back in San Antonio a full day earlier than his eventual return on Sunday.

One eyewitness said they saw Cruz and his wife outside the Parthenon around 6 p.m. local time Saturday (11 a.m. here in Texas), well after the full extent of the flood disaster was known. The source said:

I told him, ‘20 kids dead in Texas and you take a vacation? He just grunted and kept walking.

Why Was Cruz in Athens?

Cruz had flown to Athens for a quick break after the Senate passed Trump’s massive budget bill. But that “quick break” ended up overlapping with one of the deadliest disasters in recent Texas history.

Despite the bad optics, Cruz reappeared Monday morning in Kerrville—one of the hardest-hit cities—telling Fox News he’d been in contact with state and federal officials since the floods began. He posted to X, urging people to pray for the victims.

The Criticism

Critics are drawing comparisons to Cruz’s infamous Cancún vacation during the 2021 winter storm that left millions without power. Democrats are now questioning the federal response and whether recent budget cuts played a role in the scale of the disaster.

But the White House fired back, calling the accusation “a depraved lie,” saying the National Weather Service issued flood alerts in advance and that this was a natural tragedy, not a political one.

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Still, the senator’s timing—and his team’s insistence that he came home “as fast as possible”—is raising more than just eyebrows in the Lone Star State.