Amid catastrophic flash floods in central Texas over the 2025 Fourth of July holiday weekend, a rumor spread online that one of the state's U.S. senators, Ted Cruz, continued to sightsee while on vacation in Greece the day after disaster struck his constituents.

The Republican senator, who was on a preplanned family vacation, did not return to his state until 72 hours after the deadly disaster, which his office said was as quickly as possible.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is drawing heat for chasing the sun in Europe as his constituents back home dealt with a devastating crisis. Cruz was captured queuing up to visit the Parthenon in Athens, Greece,