Fox News opinion host Sean Hannity on Thursday evening tried to provide some cover for Republican Sen. Ted Cruz by offering a more flattering yet flat-out false account of Cruz’s much-derided trip to Mexico. Hannity described it as a “quick drop-off trip,” but Cruz said he had planned to stay the weekend.
In an effort to minimize the political fallout, Hannity blamed the media for the controversy following Cruz’s decision to flee Texas as his constituents suffered without electricity and water under freezing temperatures.
“Sen. Cruz is facing the ire of the mob, the media, for traveling to Cancun, Mexico, with his daughters, to drop them off and come home, as Texas is still addressing the fallout and damage from severe weather,” Hannity said.
After the trip became national news, Cruz issued a statement, which Hannity tried to stick to.
“With school cancelled for the week, our girls asked to take a trip with friends,” Cruz initially said. “Wanting to be a good dad, I flew down with them last night and am flying back this afternoon.”
While Cruz implied that it would have been just an overnight trip, it turned out he had changed his return flight from Saturday to Thursday. Skift’s Edward Russell first reported the news, which was confirmed by NBC News reporter Peter Alexander.
Cruz then went with an amended account of his trip in the interview.
“I had initially planned to stay through the weekend and to work remotely there, but as I was heading down there, I started to have second thoughts almost immediately, because the crisis here in Texas — you need to be here on the ground,” Cruz said.
“I think you can be a father and be the senator of Texas all at the same time and make a round trip, quick drop-off trip, and come home,” Hannity said.
Hannity went on to praise Texas’ separate energy grid, saying it didn’t have to “abide by the burdensome regulations of the federal government.”
Watch:
If you missed it last night, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) finished his bizarre day with a friendly Hannity interview.
After telling reporters his Cancun trip was just a “quick roundtrip,” Cruz now says the original plan was to “work remotely there.” pic.twitter.com/mdZ0tuaqZN
— The Recount (@therecount) February 19, 2021
