After facing backlash and heavy criticism for flying to Cancun, Mexico while Texas has been suffering without power, Senator Ted Cruz has now apologised for his actions, saying it was “obviously” a mistake. The Republican lawmaker had earlier on Thursday said, ” …with school cancelled for the week, our girls asked to take a trip with friends… I flew down with them last night and am flying back this afternoon.”

For leaving Texas amid the massive power outage, innumerable celelebrities took to social media to condemn him, calling for his resignation. After returning to Houston on Thursday night, Cruz told reporters, reports CNN, “Look, it was obviously a mistake, and in hindsight, I wouldn’t have done it.”

Talking about his girls, Cruz said, “I was trying to be a dad.” He continued that when someone got two girls, who have been cold for two days, without heat or power, asking their dad to “get out of here,” Cruz added that a lot of parents would think and do the same thing. 

The Republican said he regretted leaving Texas amid crisis as soon as he boarded a plane for Cancun. The 50-year-old said, “I started having second thoughts almost the moment I sat down on the plane because, on the one hand, all of us who are parents have a responsibility to take care of our kids, take care of our family, that’s something Texans have been doing across the state,” the report quoted him as saying.

Cruz said he has a responsibility to Texas that he takes very seriously. He added, ” … leaving when so many Texans were hurting did not feel right and so I changed my return flight and flew back on the first available flight I could take,” reports CNN. 

He further said he could not take a morning flight back to Texas as he had to take a COVID-19 test. The Republican Senator said he took the flight he could after taking the COVID-19 test on Thursday and testing negative.