Cruz trolled on Twitter for slamming Democrats who fled Texas

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (R) is being mocked on Twitter after he slammed Democratic lawmakers for leaving the state to deny Republicans in Austin a quorum, with many pointing to the incident earlier this year when Cruz flew to Mexico as Texas was being battered by extreme winter weather.

After Texas Democrats flew to Washington, D.C., on Monday to deny the GOP the quorum it needed to vote in a special legislative session, Cruz was said the “political stunt” was “ironic” given Democratic opposition to voter ID measures. 

“As they were getting on their private jet to fly to Washington, D.C., they almost surely had to show identification to get on that jet,” Cruz said in a Fox News interview.

“This is, at the end of the day, politics. And they need to get back to doing their jobs. And one way or the other, they will,” he added.

Cruz uploaded the interview to his Twitter account, where he was bombarded with criticism from fellow politicians and other Twitter users reminding him of his much-criticized trip to Mexico in February.

“I’d sit this one out, Ted,” tweeted Julián Castro, a Texas Democrat and the former secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) said that if there’s “one thing [Cruz] knows about, it’s jet setting.”

One Twitter user pointed out Cruz’s false equivalency, saying that “people have a right to vote but not a right to board jets.” Cruz quoted the tweet, retorting, “They also need an ID to buy Miller Lites.”

The Democratic Texas lawmakers, acknowledging they will ultimately be unable to stop GOP election reform, are calling on Congress to take sweeping action at the federal level.