Following a devastating winter storm that left millions of Texans struggling to cope with its aftermath in February 2021, Sen. Ted Cruz was subjected to widespread criticism after photographs circulated on social media showing him waiting in an airport queue, inside a passenger lounge, on an airplane, and departing from Cancun International Airport in Mexico.
Needless to say, the trip was blasted by leftists including CNN’s Ana Navarro, who said at the time that it was “downright stupid.”
Wonder if she and the other liberals who criticized Cruz think the same of California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom after he bailed this week following storms that dumped massive amounts of snow on portions of his state.
Fox News reported:
Critics are roasting Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom for being away on “personal travel” amid the devastating winter storms slamming parts of the state with feet of snow.
It’s unclear where Newsom traveled as his office does not comment on such matters due to what they say are security concerns, however the governor reportedly left California on Wednesday after a visit to the Diablo Canyon power plant in Avila Beach.
“Californians are trapped in their homes without power. More storms are on the way. And Governor Newsom has just left the state for ‘personal travel,'” Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., said in a Thursday tweet.
Californians are trapped in their homes without power. More storms are on the way. And Governor Newsom has just left the state for “personal travel.”
— Kevin Kiley (@KevinKileyCA) March 2, 2023
In another tweet, Kiley called on Acting Democratic Gov. Eleni Kounalakis “to immediately seek a Major Disaster Declaration from the President,” adding that some state residents who were affected by the storms have neither power nor supplies at their ready.
“May not have been the best timing for Newsom to go out of state on personal travel,” San Francisco Chronicle columnist Emily Hoeven tweeted Friday as she linked to a story about how Californians were stranded without food or a way to dig out from record snowfalls.
It is uncertain why Newsom chose to travel outside of California in the midst of the continuing storm situation, particularly after having declared a state of emergency in 13 counties, including Los Angeles, on Wednesday, in response to the storms, Fox News reported.
Newsom has faced criticism previously for traveling out of state for personal reasons. In 2020, he was heavily criticized for taking a vacation in Montana, despite it being one of the 22 states where he had banned state-funded travel due to disagreements about laws related to the LGBT community.
