{"id":48703,"date":"2025-07-08T12:47:12","date_gmt":"2025-07-08T12:47:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/48703\/"},"modified":"2025-07-08T12:47:12","modified_gmt":"2025-07-08T12:47:12","slug":"vacationing-ted-cruzs-as-fast-as-humanly-possible-return-claim-crumbles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/48703\/","title":{"rendered":"Vacationing Ted Cruz\u2019s as \u2018Fast as Humanly Possible\u2019 Return Claim Crumbles"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ted Cruz could have booked numerous flights from Greece to Texas before the one he boarded\u2014despite his office claiming he came home from his European vacation \u201cas fast as humanly possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Daily Beast\u2019s newsletter The Swamp<\/a> revealed Monday how Cruz was caught touring the Parthenon in Athens, Greece, 24 hours after the Guadalupe River burst its banks, sweeping away dozens of lives in an unspeakable horror whose full effects are still unfolding.<\/p>\n

\"TedThe Swamp <\/p>\n

After we published, Cruz\u2019s director of communications issued the claim about his speed of return, adding that the article was \u201ca bull—-piece\u201d that showed \u201cno regard for the tragedy in Texas.\u201d But the Daily Beast has reviewed flight options for Cruz from Athens to San Antonio and discovered several that would have gotten him back sooner than his Sunday return.<\/p>\n

Flight data shows multiple flights from Athens to San Antonio, Texas, on Friday, July 4 and Saturday, July 5, after the floods hit.<\/p>\n

While it is not known how many seats were available on each flight, possible options included flights leaving Athens on Saturday morning and landing in San Antonio that evening via Chicago, Atlanta, or Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n

\"SearchJim Vondruska\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

Earlier flights were also available on Friday once the seriousness of the floods was becoming apparent.<\/p>\n

Due to high demand, several airlines also announced this year that Greece would have more direct air connections with the U.S. than it has ever had. <\/p>\n

In addition to commercial travel options, senators often charter private jets for emergency or even routine travel. <\/p>\n

The senator arrived in Athens on Thursday to take a brief break after the Senate voted to pass Trump\u2019s so-called \u201cBig, Beautiful Bill.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Cruz raised eyebrows among vacationers when he was spotted with his wife lining up outside the Parthenon on Saturday, July 5, at about 6 p.m. local time (11 a.m. ET)\u2014more than 24 hours after the Guadalupe River burst its banks.<\/p>\n

\"TedTed Cruz was in Athens on Saturday while rescuers were searching for flood victims in Texas. The Swamp <\/p>\n

\u201cHe was with his family and a lone security guard,\u201d said an eyewitness at the Parthenon. \u201cAs he walked past us, I simply said, \u201820 kids dead in Texas and you take a vacation?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cHe sort of grunted and walked on,\u201d the Swamp spy continued. \u201cHis wife shot me a dirty look. Then they continued on with their tour guide.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cruz was back on the airwaves from Texas on Monday morning, telling reporters that he had been in contact with local authorities and the president within hours of the floods to seek support and resources for the community.<\/p>\n

\"KerrvilleKerrville Mayor Joe Herring, Jr. (center) warned of a \u201crough week\u201d ahead on Monday. Jorge Salgado\/Anadolu via Getty Images <\/p>\n

He also appeared live on Fox & Friends from Kerrville, Texas, in the area hardest hit by the disaster, and posted a number of messages to X.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere aren\u2019t words to describe the grief that Texans are feeling. Pray for Texas and Kerr County,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

The devastating floods dumped more than a month\u2019s worth of rain in parts of central Texas, killing more than 100 people, including 27 children, according to officials.<\/p>\n

Some Democrats have questioned whether Trump\u2019s cuts to the federal government could have impacted the human toll of the disaster.<\/p>\n

\"AA view inside of a cabin at Camp Mystic on July 5, 2025. RONALDO SCHEMIDT\/AFP via Getty Images <\/p>\n

However, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called this a \u201cdepraved lie.\u201d She said a flood watch was issued in the early afternoon of Thursday, July 3, followed by a flash flood warning that night and the early morning of July 4, \u201cgiving preliminary lead times of more than three hours before flash flooding conditions occurred.<\/p>\n

\u201cDespite unprecedented rainfall, the National Weather Service executed timely and precise forecasts and warnings,\u201d Leavitt said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany Democratic elected officials are trying to turn this into a political game. It is not. This is a national tragedy.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ted Cruz could have booked numerous flights from Greece to Texas before the one he boarded\u2014despite his office…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":48704,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[24918,50,4411,358,37204,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-48703","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"category-us","9":"tag-greece","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-ted-cruz","12":"tag-texas","13":"tag-trumpland","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-unitedstates","16":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114817693093825732","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48703","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48703"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48703\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48704"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}