Ted Cruz says the media is 'obsessed' with his Mexico trip because it's 'suffering from Trump withdrawal'

• Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas addressed his Mexican-vacation scandal Monday on the Fox News show "Hannity."
• Cruz flew to Cancún as a winter storm crippled his state, leaving millions without power.
• He said the media "obsessed" over the vacation because it's "suffering from Trump withdrawal."

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas says the news media is "obsessed" with his Mexican-vacation scandal because it's suffering from "Trump withdrawal."

Cruz was caught flying to Cancún last week to stay at a luxury five-star resort with his family after a winter storm crippled his state and forced millions of Texans to endure brutally cold temperatures without power.

The senator appeared on the Fox News show "Hannity" on Monday night, when the host Sean Hannity argued that Cruz's getaway got outsize attention from news outlets compared with the revelations coming to light about Gov. Andrew Cuomo's handling of nursing-home deaths in New York during the coronavirus pandemic.

"Where's the proportionality from the mob and the media?" Hannity asked.

To which Cruz responded: "You're right, and I think the media is suffering from Trump withdrawal, where they've attacked Trump every day for four years - they don't know what to do, so they obsessed over my taking my girls to the beach."

When the news of Cruz's Mexican vacation first came to light, he defended the trip, saying he was just trying to be a "good dad."

"With school canceled for the week, our girls asked to take a trip with friends," Cruz said in a statement Thursday. "Wanting to be a good dad, I flew down with them last night and am flying back this afternoon."

Cruz later acknowledged he was originally scheduled to stay in Mexico for several days and said he regretted the jaunt.

"It was obviously a mistake, and in hindsight I wouldn't have done it," Cruz told reporters outside his home on Thursday, according to ABC News.

In text messages obtained by Insider, Cruz's wife, Heidi, appeared to take an active role in planning the getaway and rally neighbors to join them amid the state's widespread power outages.

Cruz has been working to repair the damage of the trip by publicly aiding relief efforts, but many have questioned his motives and mocked him on social media.