FLOWN TO MEXICO, QUOTE, TO BE A
GOOD DAD, END QUOTE, AND WOULD
RETURN THAT AFTERNOON.
BUT REPORTING IN "THE NEW YORK
TIMES" QUICKLY REVEALED THAT THE
QUICK TURN AROUND WAS NOT THE
ORIGINAL PLAN.
QUOTE, TEXT MESSAGES SENT FROM
CRUZ’S WIFE TO FRIENDS AND
HOUSTON NEIGHBORS ON WEDNESDAY
REVEALED A HASTILY PLANNED TRIP.
THEIR HOUSE WAS, QUOTE,
FREEZING, AS MRS. CRUZ PUT IT,
AND SHE PROPOSED A GETAWAY UNTIL
SUNDAY.
MS. CRUZ INVITED OTHERS TO JOIN
THEM AT THE RITZ-CARLTON IN
CANCUN WHERE THEY HAD STAYED
MANY TIMES.
NOTING THE ROOM PRICE THIS WEEK,
$309 PER NIGHT AND ITS GOOD
SECURED
SECURITY.
THE TEXT MESSAGES WERE PROVIDED
TO "THE NEW YORK TIMES" AND
CONFIRMED BY A SECOND PERSON ON
THE THREAD WHO DECLINED TO BE
IDENTIFIED BECAUSE OF THE NATURE
OF THE TEXTS.
A MASSIVE LEADERSHIP FAILURE ON
FULL DISPLAY AND CALLS FOR
CRUZ’S RESIGNATION HAVE SWELLED,
INCLUDING FROM THE TEXAS
DEMOCRATIC PARTY, WHOSE CHAIR
CALLED CRUZ AN ENEMY TO OUR
STATE BY ABANDONING US IN OUR
GREATEST TIME OF NEED, ADDING,
QUOTE, CRUZ IS EMBLEMATIC OF
WHAT THE TEXAS REPUBLICAN PARTY
AND ITS LEADERS HAVE BECOME,
WEAK, CORRUPT, INEPT AND
SELF-SERVING POLITICIANS WHO
DON’T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT THE
PEOPLE THEY WERE ELECTED TO
REPRESENT.
THE LACK OF LEADERSHIP WHEN
TEXAS NEEDED IT MOST IS WHERE WE
START TODAY WITH SOME OF OUR
FAVORITE REPORTERS AND FRIENDS.
PHIL RUCKER IS HERE.
"WASHINGTON POST" SENIOR
WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT AND
MSNBC POLITICAL ANALYST.
ALSO JOINING US, OUR FRIEND
ELIZABETH NEUMANN, FORMER
ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR THREAT
PREVENTION FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF
HOMELAND SECURITY.
SHE IS NOW THE CODIRECTOR OF THE
REPUBLICAN ACCOUNTABILITY
PROJECT, AND JULIAN CASTRO IS
HERE, SECRETARY OF HOUSING AND
URBAN DEVELOPMENT UNDER
PRESIDENT OBAMA AND A 2020
PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE.
I’LL START WITH YOU, SIR, AND
YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE STATE,
YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF TED CRUZ.
I HAVE TO SAY, COVERING TED
CRUZ’S CONDUCT DURING A NATURAL
DISASTER THREATENS TO SORT OF
OVERSHADOW HIS
INSURRECTION-ADJACENT CONDUCT
OVER THE LAST SIX WEEKS, BUT
TAKEN TOGETHER, IT SEEMS OUT OF
STEP AND OUT OF THE MAINSTREAM
OF EVEN THE TEXAS GOP.
>> YEAH, I THINK THE COMMON
DENOMINATOR AND ONE OF THE
REASONS I THINK THIS IS
POLITICALLY FATAL FOR TED CRUZ
IS THAT IT DEMONSTRATES THAT
HE’S IN IT JUST FOR HIMSELF.
THE COMMON DENOMINATOR WAS HE
LED THAT EFFORT IN THE SENATE TO
TRY AND OVERTURN THE RESULTS OF
THE ELECTION BECAUSE HE WAS
TRYING TO INGRATIATE HIMSELF TO
THE TRUMP BASE IN CASE HE RUNS
IN 2024 FOR PRESIDENT AGAIN,
SAME THING HERE.
YOU KNOW, HE COMES BACK AFTER HE
GETS CAUGHT, EVEN THOUGH HE
INTENDED TO STAY IN CANCUN
APPARENTLY THROUGH THE WEEKEND,
COMES BACK AND THEN SAYS, WELL,
IT’S THE PERCEPTION.
THAT’S THE REASON THAT I CAME
BACK.
IT’S ALL ABOUT TRYING TO GET AN
ADVANTAGE WITH THE TRUMP BASE,
WITH VOTERS HE THINKS HE’S GOING
TO NEED IN TEXAS.
IT’S NOT ABOUT THE PEOPLE.
IT’S NOT ABOUT THE FOLKS WHO ARE
HURTING THESE LAST FEW DAYS IN
TEXAS.
IT’S ALL ABOUT HOW SOMETHING’S
GOING TO LOOK, AND THAT IS
EXACTLY WHAT PEOPLE HATE ABOUT
POLITICS, AND THAT IS NOW THE
BRAND OF TED CRUZ.
>> AND JULIAN, I HAVE TO SAY,
BEFORE THE COUNTRY SAW WHAT THEY
SAW THIS WEEK FROM TED CRUZ, ANY
ONE OF US WHO WERE ANYWHERE HERE
ANYMORE 25 YEARS AGO AT THE
BEGINNING OF HIS POLITICAL
CAREER SAW THIS SIDE OF HIM, AND
I WONDER, I MEAN, BETO O’ROURKE
CAME VERY CLOSE IN HIS RACE
AGAINST HIM BUT I WONDER IF YOU
THINK THERE’S REAL POLITICAL
PERIL FOR WHAT HAS BEEN REVEALED
ABOUT TED CRUZ.
I NEVER THOUGHT IT WAS VERY
TEXAS TO TOLERATE BEING TAUNTED
AND BULLY BIDIED BY SOMEONE DONA
TRUMP WHO CALLED YOUR WIFE UGLY
AND ACCUSED YOUR FATHER OF BEING
PART OF THE ASSASSINATION OF
JFK.
DO YOU THINK THIS REPRESENTS
ANOTHER SORT OF BRICK IN THAT
CASE AGAINST TED CRUZ AS LACKING
CORE PRINCIPLES?
>> OH, ABSOLUTELY.
I ALSO THINK, YOU KNOW,
POLITICALLY SPEAKING, THAT HE’S
VULNERABLE ON BOTH ENDS.
HE’S VULNERABLE IN A PRIMARY
BECAUSE PEOPLE PERCEIVE HIM AS
PHONY AND WEAK, AND HE’S GOING
TO BE VULNERABLE IN THE GENERAL
ELECTION, AS YOU MENTIONED, BETO
O’ROURKE GOT WITHIN TWO AND A
HALF POINTS IN 2018.
IF HE DECIDES TO RUN FOR
RE-ELECTION FOR HIS SENATE SEAT
INSTEAD OF RUNNING FOR
PRESIDENT, THEN I THINK HE’S
GOING TO HAVE ANOTHER AT LEAST
VERY CLOSE RACE, IF NOT GET
BEATEN.
HE MAY NOT MAKE IT EVEN OUT OF
THE PRIMARY, THOUGH.
IT’S INTERESTING, NICOLE.
IF THIS HAD BEEN DONALD TRUMP, I
THINK WHAT HE WOULD HAVE DONE IS
DO TO MEXICO, AND THEN WHEN HE
GOT CAUGHT GOING TO MEXICO, HE
WOULD HAVE SAID, I’M IN MEXICO.
THERE’S NOTHING THAT I CAN DO
ABOUT IT.
AND HEY, LOOK, HE WOULD HAVE
MADE UP SOME REASON FOR WHY
THAT’S THE BEST THING TO HAPPEN
IN THE WORLD.
THE TRUMP BASE DIDN’T LIKE WHAT
CRUZ DID, I THINK, BECAUSE THEY
SAW HIM BACKING DOWN.
NOW, I DON’T AGREE WITH THAT.