Ted Cruz Changes Tune on That Cancun Trip

So much for the "good dad" schtick. The New York Times got a hold of a group text thread between Sen. Ted Cruz's wife, Heidi Cruz, and some of their Houston neighbors, and despite Sen. Cruz initially insisting it was all his daughters' idea to "take a trip with friends" after school was canceled for the week, it turns out the Cruz family trip to Cancun was actually Heidi Cruz's idea to escape the frigid and dangerous conditions in their home state. Noting that their house was "FREEZING," Heidi Cruz went on to tout the Ritz-Carlton resort's $309-per-night price and good security. "Anyone can or want to leave for the week?" she wrote. "Seriously." No one appeared to take her up on the offer, but one person on the thread shared the messages with the Times and a second person on the thread confirmed their authenticity.

Sen. Cruz originally claimed he was simply flying down with his family on Wednesday and coming back the following day, but Heidi Cruz's texts show she was always planning a weekend stay, and a source tells NBC News her husband's original return flight was Saturday. Sen. Cruz later acknowledged upon his return to Houston that "leaving when so many Texans were hurting didn't feel right, and so I changed my return flight and flew back on the first available flight." Amid widespread criticism on both the left and the right and calls for Cruz to resign, some were also calling for people to make #gooddad trend on Twitter with stories of fathers doing what needed to be done amid the horrific situation in Texas. Example: "My #gooddad helped our elderly neighbors get warm, turned off water for those who couldn’t and is now out with an axe breaking up neighbors ice in their pools." Meanwhile in Texas, horrific stories like a man frozen to death in his recliner and a child suspected to have died of hypothermia in bed continue to come out. (More Ted Cruz stories.)