Audio By Carbonatix
Turns out Lindsey Graham isn’t the only senator slinking off to the Sunshine State during the longest partial government shutdown in U.S. history. A day after TMZ posted photos of the septuagenarian, childfree politician hanging out at Disney World, the gossip site published images of Sen. Ted Cruz at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.
“It ain’t Cancun, but it’s close,” reads the TMZ article, a reference to the Texas senator jetsetting to the vacation spot in 2021 while his state battled a deadly winter storm. The Fort Lauderdale pictures, which the site said were taken on Tuesday, show Cruz apparently waiting to board a flight. Several law enforcement officers stand around him.
Unlike the photos of Graham, who defended himself by telling TMZ he “voted seven times to fully fund the government. Call a Democrat,” there were no bubble wands in sight.
Cruz’s office did not immediately respond to a New Times inquiry about what brought the lawmaker to our fair shores and whether he had any concerns about taking a trip amid the shutdown.
He’s the latest politician to be put on blast by TMZ for seemingly treating himself during spring break while some federal workers worry about their next paychecks. After making its bones staking out celebrities in unflattering moments, the website has now turned its sights to politicians. Last week, it published a post with this headline: “APB to TMZ Users: Send Us Congress Vacay Pics!!!”
“As TSA officers are selling their blood to keep a roof over their heads, members of Congress are packing their bags for a 2-week vacation, and WE WANT THE PICS!” the APB reads. “Since compromise isn’t working, maybe some shame will, and that’s why we’re asking everyone to be on the lookout over the next 2 weeks for the folks who ‘work’ on Capitol Hill, enjoying their leisure time.”
People were apparently happy to oblige: within a few days, TMZ shared images of Graham waiting to board Space Mountain, dining at a Disney restaurant and carrying around the $40 bubble wand. The shaming has been bipartisan; in addition to Republicans Graham and Cruz, the site went after Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia for hanging out at a casino in Las Vegas. A spokesperson for the congressman told the site he was in Vegas visiting his father.
“Actually I don’t mind what tmz is doing here,” Garcia wrote on X. “Like the story says my dad has lived in Vegas for 15 years and I had just finished lunch with him. I try to see him whenever I can. And like I said a few days ago, Speaker Mike Johnson should have never sent us all home.”
