John Oliver eviscerates Ted Cruz over Cancun scandal: ‘It’s all amazing’

Late-night host is one of several comedians and presenters to skewer the Texas senator over his actions during a state crisis

John Oliver tore in to Texas senator Ted Cruz over his trip to Mexico in the latest episode of his show, Last Week Tonight.

The late-night presenter went after Cruz over his actions amid a winter storm that has caused devastation across the Midwest, with Texas one of the worst-hit states.

Freezing temperatures left millions of Texans without clean water, electricity or heating, resulting in dozens of deaths.

However, Cruz chose to board a flight to the popular holiday destination of Cancun, Mexico, with his family last week, sparking mass criticism.

Cruz claimed he made the trip because his daughters had said they wanted a holiday, but a leaked group text between Cruz’s wife, Heidi, and friends appeared to show her suggesting the holiday and inviting others to join her family at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Cancun – contradicting Cruz’s story.

Read more: ‘Hot water... a thing that nobody in Texas has’: Ted Cruz relentlessly skewered by SNL over Cancun trip

Branding the scandal part of “the saga of Ted F***ing Cruz”, Oliver said the senator “blamed his preteen daughters for the trip, saying they had asked him to go and ‘I was trying to be a good dad’, because the first rule of fatherhood is throw your daughters under the bus at the first opportunity”.

“I mean that's just incredible,” he continued, via The Hollywood Reporter. “Ted Cruz — who remember, wants to be president — told the world he was bullied into international travel by twins, then got cyber-bullied into coming home by the internet, leaving his wife to solo parent two kids on vacation in another country while trying to figure out who in her mom group doxxed her. It's all amazing.”

After lambasting other senior US politicians over the crisis, Oliver concluded his opening segment by asking viewers to support those in need by donating to the Feeding Texas charity.

Cruz also received a pummelling during the latest episode of Saturday Night Live, which you can read about here.