Hillary blasts Ted Cruz for leaving dog Snowflake behind on Cancun trip

Former secretary of state and 2016 Democratic Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton scorched TexasRepublican Senator Ted Cruz with a tweet, writing: "Don't vote for anyone you wouldn't trust with your dog."

While not explicitly naming Mr Cruz, it was clear that it was aimed at him. Ms Clinton was going off reports that Mr Cruz left his dog, Snowflake, behind as his family jetted off to Cancun, Mexico while Texans struggled to deal with power outages and freezing temperatures.

Journalist Michael Hardy tweeted out an image in which a poodle can be seen staring out the front door of Mr Cruz’s Houston home.

Mr Hardy later added: "When Ted Cruz left for Mexico the power was out. His wife Heidi texted a friend it was freezing. While he was gone the power came back. So Snowflake was in the cold for part of a day, but it could well have been longer. Ted left a security guard to take care of Snowflake."

A parody Twitter account was quickly set up for the Cruz family's poodle, garnering almost 3,000 followers by Friday afternoon and chiming in with Ms Clinton.

The bio of the account reads: "I’m Ted Cruz’s poodle, Snowflake, living my best life while Texas freezes over & my a-hole dad is in Cancun."

Mr Cruz flew to Mexico on Wednesday but booked a return flight around 6 am the following morning for that very same afternoon after suffering furious backlash. He had initially planned to stay until Saturday.

Speaking to reporters after arriving back in Houston, Mr Cruz admitted that he had made a mistake by leaving his state at a time of crisis.

He said: “I was trying to be a dad. And all of us have made decisions when you got two girls who have been cold for two days and haven’t had heat or power and they’re saying, ‘Hey look, we don’t have school, why don’t we go. Let’s get out of here.’"

The Texas Democratic Party called on Mr Cruz to resign for the 21st time on Thursday. In a searing statement, Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa said: “Ted Cruz jetting off to Mexico while Texans remain dying in the cold isn’t surprising but it is deeply disturbing and disappointing. 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. They were elected by the people but have no interest or intent of doing their jobs."

Read More

Conservatives trying their hardest to defend Ted Cruz are embarrassing America

Why Ted Cruz was so hated long before the Cancun incident

Ted Cruz seems determined to blame his children for his failings – he wouldn’t be the first politician to do so

Billboard, posters, and signs mocking Ted Cruz go up around Texas

Trevor Noah resurfaces video of Ted Cruz calling other politicians ‘out of touch’ amid Cancun scandal