Cruz tries to preempt ‘Cancun Ted’ jokes a year after Mexican getaway during Texas’ deep freeze

If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. Sen. Ted Cruz embraced that philosophy when he posted creepy Zodiac codes on Halloween to signal he was in on the meme linking him to serial murders that ended when he was a toddler. Now, almost a year since his aborted family getaway to Cancún during a deadly mass blackout in Texas, he’s employing the same tactic to ease the sting as late-night comics sharpen their barbs. On Wednesday, he posted a Tweet complaining that “inflation is out of control.” Prices are up on gas, food and lumber “and tickets to Cancún are up 32%!” The two-term Republican has been comedy catnip throughout his 9-year Senate career. Saturday Night Live regularly lampoons him, and the show invoked his Mexican getaway as recently as Jan. 22 during a parody of Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle.

“I’d like to remind all my fellow Texans watching at home that February is going to be a cold one, so you might want to book your vacay to Cancún now,” says Cruz, played by female cast member Aidy Bryant. As Texans well recall, a brutal winter storm hit the state last February. The power grid failed. Millions were left in the dark and cold. With the crisis in full swing, passengers aboard a flight from Houston to Cancún noticed the junior senator. He was outed by the time he landed. “It was obviously a mistake and in hindsight I shouldn’t have done it. I was trying to be a dad,” he told reporters after returning to Houston less than 24 hours after departing for the sun-drenched beach resort with his wife and their two daughters. By then, “Cancun Ted,” “Cancun Cruz” and “Flying Ted” – a play on Donald Trump’s “Lyin’ Ted” taunt – was a viral target on social media, and fodder for late night comics. Jimmy Kimmel mocked Cruz as a “snake on a plane… headed, ironically, to the very place he tried to build a wall around.” “What were you thinking?” Trevor Noah asked on his show. “When your constituents said they need clean water, they didn’t mean go find a wet T-shirt contest in Cancún.” Nearly a year later, the episode is not forgotten.