Ted Cruz vacationed in Europe during deadly Texas flood: report

Brian Niemietz, New York Daily News on Jul 7, 2025

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Texas Sen. Ted Cruz reportedly spent the weekend hitting tourists spots in Europe while a devastating Lone Star State flood killed at least 90 campers in the Hill Country.

The Republican lawmaker, who infamously fled his home state for Mexico in 2021 when a freezing winter storm shut down Texas’ power grid, was spotted in Greece checking out the Parthenon on Saturday, according to the Daily Beast.

A day earlier, the search for more than 20 campers who went missing when floodwaters overran the nearly 100-year-old Camp Mystic was underway. That number rose sharply before Cruz finally headed home Sunday, the Daily Beast said. Cruz spoke to reporters in Kerrville Monday.

A witness said Cruz was accompanied by a security officer and his wife Heidi Cruz — who shot the witness a dirty look — during his European vacation.

“As he walked past us, I simply said, ‘20 kids dead in Texas and you take a vacation?’” that source said.

Cruz “sort of grunted and walked on” as the tour continued.

The Senator is believed to have arrived in Athens Thursday when Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick warned “potential flooding” might be coming. Patrick told reporters he was filling in for Cruz while the 54-year-old Senate Committee on Commerce Chairman was away.

Cruz appeared on Newsmax Monday afternoon to say Texans were heartbroken by the devastation that occurred when the Guadalupe River swallowed the central Texas Christian camp on Independence Day. The Austin American-Statesman said the river rose from less than a foot high on July 3 to more than 34 feet high by 6:45 a.m. on July 4.

The Texas Hill Country is nicknamed “Flash Flood Alley” due to the area’s propensity for suddenly dangerous conditions. Cruz called that part of the state “The most beautiful part of Texas” Monday.

His office didn’t address the Daily Beast’s report on the Senator’s European vacation.

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