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Who are Caroline and Catherine Cruz? Ted Cruz is a protective dad despite blaming daughters for Cancun trip

Last year, he scolded White House reporter Andrew Feinberg after the latter brought up the senator's children while posing a question about Hunter Biden

Senator Ted Cruz faced a lot of backlash on social media after he tried to blame his daughters for flying to Cancun, Mexico, on Wednesday, February 17, as a winter disaster in his home state left millions without power or water. 

"With school canceled for the week, our girls asked to take a trip with friends. Wanting to be a good dad, I flew down with them last night and am flying back this afternoon," he said in the statement after photos of him at the airport and boarding a plane went viral. "My staff and I are in constant communication with state and local leaders to get to the bottom of what happened in Texas. We want our power back, our water on, and our homes warm. My team and I will continue using all our resources to keep Texans informed and safe."

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He later admitted that it was a 'mistake' on his part after returning back home on Thursday. "I started having second thoughts almost the moment I sat down on the plane, because on the one hand, all of us who are parents have a responsibility to take care of our kids, take care of our family. That's something Texans have been doing across the state," he said.

Ted Cruz has two daughters, Caroline Camille Cruz and Catherine Christiane Cruz. 

Caroline Cruz

Caroline Cruz was born in 2008 and is currently aged 12. Although not much is known about the kid, one thing is for sure - Caroline loves to embarrass her dad in public. 

She has been seen running away from Ted multiple times during his presidential campaign in 2016. Once he tried to give his daughter a kiss while the cameras were rolling and she squirmed out of his grasp. She also blurted out to CNN anchor Anderson Cooper during her TV appearance that there was a video of her father dancing around in a pink boa and “big underwear." Also during the conclusion of the Republican presidential debate in Houston, Texas, on February 25, 2016, she was caught making bunny ears with her fingers behind the head of her father as he talked with his family. 

Ted's eldest daughter was also none-too-pleased that her mother took unpaid leave to help him campaign in 2016. In a profile of Heidi Cruz in The Atlantic, the wife of the Texas senator said Caroline, who was seven when the campaign started, was confused as to why she left her job as a managing director at Goldman Sachs because of dad's presidential bid.

"I tried to articulate, you know, 'It's actually for the country, it's a much bigger project than ourselves.'" Heidi told reporter Elaina Plott. "And she wanted to know, if we won, was the first lady paid?" After learning that they were not, Caroline allegedly responded: "That's a bad deal for you. We shouldn't do this."

Ted, however, did score some major brownie points in February last year, after he introduced 'Captain America' star Chris Evans to his thrilled daughter. "Just sat down for an interview w/ ⁦@ChrisEvans Really nice guy. Caroline came up to DC to meet him. Almost nothing in the Senate impresses an 11-year old; introducing her to Captain America was pretty awesome!" he tweeted.

Catherine Cruz

Catherine Cruz was born on October 28, 2010. She is currently 10 years old. Ted posted a picture of himself with his wife, Caroline, and the newborn at the hospital after her birth. The Facebook caption at the time read, "Tonight at 11:12 p.m., Catherine Christiane Cruz came into the world. She weighs 7 pounds, 4 ounces. Mommy, Daddy, and big sister Caroline are all doing well and absolutely thrilled."

Ted Cruz, a protective dad

Back in 2015, Washington Post got an earful from Ted for publishing an online editorial cartoon depicting his two daughters as dancing monkeys. He told a crowd in Tulsa that the attack "has no place in politics."

"Not too much ticks me off, but making fun of my girls, that'll do it," Cruz said in response to the cartoon, NBC reported. "It used to be for a long time the rules across the board that kids are off limits. That should be the rules. Don't mess with our kids. Don't mess with my kids. Don't mess with Marco's kids. Don't mess with Hillary's kid. Don't mess with anybody's kids. Leave kids alone And if the media wants to attack and ridicule every Republican, well that's what they're gonna do. But leave our kids alone. Let's argue about marginal tax rates. Let's argue about policy. But don't be attacking five-year-old girls. That has no place in politics." The cartoon was taken down by the Post after the senator's outrage.

In a fundraising campaign following the publication of the cartoon, Ted launched an "emergency" fundraising campaign to raise $1 million in 24 hours. "My daughters are not FAIR GAME," he wrote in a fundraising email at the time. "I'm sickened ... I knew I'd be facing attacks from day one of my campaign, but I never expected anything like this." He accused the "liberal media" of attempting to "attack and destroy me (and my family) by any means necessary."

Last year, he scolded White House reporter Andrew Feinberg after the latter brought up the senator's children while posing a question about Hunter Biden. "But senator, none of the president's attorneys mentioned one single possible crime," Feinberg said at the time. "Basically, what they said is [Hunter Biden] got a job, his dad was vice president. I mean, if that's a crime, shouldn't half of your children be in prison?"

"My children are 9 and 11," Cruz replied as the lawmakers and some reporters laughed. "I'm sorry you want to throw a 9-year-old in prison. At this point, my third-grader plays basketball and softball at her school, so stop playing the nasty Washington game."