Ted Cruz says his wife is 'pissed' over leaked Cancún texts, suggests people 'just don't be a--holes'

• Sen. Ted Cruz said his wife was "pissed" over leaked group texts about their trip to Cancún, Mexico.
• "Here's a suggestion: Just don't be a--holes," Cruz said during a podcast interview.
• Cruz has faced a wave of backlash for traveling to Cancún amid a deadly winter storm in Texas.

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas on Tuesday said his wife, Heidi Cruz, was "pretty pissed" about leaked texts from a group chat regarding their widely ridiculed jaunt to Cancún, Mexico, last week.

"Heidi's pretty pissed at that," Cruz said on the "Ruthless" podcast, referring to the leaked texts. "She actually was over at her neighbor's house yesterday sort of walking through."

After news broke of the Cruzes' trip to Cancún, texts were leaked to Insider and The New York Times from a group chat in which Heidi Cruz seemed to urge neighbors to join them on the excursion.

"It's a sign of how ridiculously politicized and nasty and just, you know, here's a suggestion: Just don't be a--holes," Cruz said. "Just treat each other as human beings. Have some degree, some modicum of respect."

The Texas Republican has faced a wave of criticism and mockery for traveling to Cancún as his state faced a deadly winter storm that left millions without power on top of the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cruz was spotted traveling to Cancún on Wednesday. Within hours, he changed his travel plans and flew back to Texas on Thursday.

He blamed the trip on his daughters, saying they wanted to escape the cold and he wanted to be a "good dad." Cruz told reporters that he originally planned to stay in Cancún until Saturday but that the "firestorm" he saw in response to the trip led him to return early. The Texas senator described the tropical vacation as "obviously a mistake."

But Cruz has already changed his tone.

On Monday, he told Fox News' Sean Hannity that the media was "obsessed" with his Cancún trip because major news outlets were "suffering from Trump withdrawal."