Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez shoots back at Ted Cruz, saying he treated storm-hit Texas as a 'layover' between trips to Cancun and CPAC
Eliza Relman
Mon, March 1, 2021, 


Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez visiting homes in Houston that were damaged by the winter storm. Elizabeth Conley/Reuters


Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez hit back at Sen. Ted Cruz after he mocked her during his CPAC speech.


Ocasio-Cortez again criticized Cruz for fleeing Texas during the recent electrical-grid collapse.


They've feuded since Ocasio-Cortez accused Cruz of helping to incite the deadly Capitol riot.


Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez hit back at Sen. Ted Cruz after the Texas Republican mocked her in a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida, on Friday.

The two lawmakers have publicly feuded since the New York Democrat accused Cruz of helping to incite the deadly riot at the Capitol on January 6 by voting against the certification of the election result and feeding the right's lies about the result

Ocasio-Cortez added to the widespread criticism of Cruz's trip to Cancún, Mexico, with his family during the severe winter storms and electrical-grid collapse in Texas last month. Ocasio-Cortez raised $5 million for nonprofits helping Texans and flew to the state to meet with people affected by the crisis. Dozens of people died of hypothermia, carbon-monoxide poisoning, and other causes during what may be the costliest disaster in the state's history.

Cruz flew back to Texas after his trip provoked a backlash. His aides later published photos of him handing out bottled water to constituents.

 

"I don't care what Cruz said at CPAC," Ocasio-Cortez tweeted on Sunday night, "but I do care that it appears Texas was just a layover stop for him between Cancun and Orlando to drop a pack of water into someone's trunk and abandon his constituents again as they get slammed with $16,000 electrical bills."

In his speech at CPAC, Cruz made light of the criticism of his trip and mocked Ocasio-Cortez's concerns about her safety during the Capitol siege. Ocasio-Cortez has received death threats and accused Cruz of "trying to get me killed."

"We're gathered at a time where the hard left, where the socialists control the levers of government, where they control the White House, where they control every executive branch, where they control both houses of Congress. Bernie is wearing mittens, and AOC is telling us she was murdered," Cruz said at CPAC.

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