{"id":47260,"date":"2025-07-08T00:00:12","date_gmt":"2025-07-08T00:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/47260\/"},"modified":"2025-07-08T00:00:12","modified_gmt":"2025-07-08T00:00:12","slug":"ted-cruz-returned-from-greece-trip-sunday-amid-deadly-floods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/47260\/","title":{"rendered":"Ted Cruz returned from Greece trip Sunday amid deadly floods"},"content":{"rendered":"

Audio recording is automated for accessibility. Humans wrote and edited the story. See our AI policy<\/a>, and give us feedback<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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WASHINGTON \u2014 As Texans woke up July 4 to the news that flooding in the Hill Country had turned deadly, Sen. Ted Cruz was on a pre-planned vacation in Greece with his family.<\/p>\n

The senator arrived back in Texas late Sunday night \u2014 the soonest he was able to return, according to a spokesperson for his office.<\/p>\n

Cruz was spotted<\/a> Saturday<\/a> morning \u2014 evening, in Greece \u2014 visiting the Parthenon in Athens.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Senator was already in the middle of preplanned family vacation travel overseas when the flooding occurred on July 4,\u201d the spokesperson said, noting Cruz spoke with federal and state officials within hours of the flood to coordinate federal resources for the search-and-rescue effort. Cruz and his team also \u201cworked closely with local officials and with families of missing girls throughout that time,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

Cruz\u2019s office declined to say when he purchased his flight home. His spokesperson also declined to say when Cruz boarded his return flight or arrived in Texas, specifying only that he left Greece \u201cearly Sunday\u201d Central time and landed in San Antonio \u201clate Sunday.\u201d<\/p>\n

His flight took off about a day and a half after local officials announced the death toll had reached 24 with many still missing.<\/p>\n

Cruz made his first on-site appearance Monday morning, hours before a critical media report<\/a> detailed the senator\u2019s Athens visit and set off social media backlash, with some invoking Cruz\u2019s 2021 trip to Canc\u00fan in the midst of Winter Storm Uri.<\/p>\n

During that episode, the senator left Texas after the storm had hit and as many residents lacked power and water, which he admitted<\/a> was \u201cobviously a mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n

From Greece, Cruz helped coordinate the federal response, speaking Friday afternoon Central time with President Donald Trump, Gov. Greg Abbott and Texas Division of Emergency Management Chief Nim Kidd, according to his office.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile in Texas, Sen. John Cornyn and Rep. Chip Roy, R-Austin, joined emergency officials in Kerrville on Saturday for an on-the-ground briefing and to provide updates alongside Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and state officials.<\/p>\n

While in Kerrville, Cruz surveyed the damage, attended a press conference and appeared on Fox News. He noted that his daughters had long attended a summer camp near Camp Mystic \u2014 and that he had been in the area last week to pick one of them up.<\/p>\n

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