Two D.C. Bars Are Advertising Stunt Cocktails That Roast Ted Cruz for Fleeing Texas

A pair of D.C. bars have come up with cocktails that bash Ted Cruz after the Republican senator from Texas took a tone-deaf trip to Cancun while his home state is facing extreme winter weather and widespread power outages.

Tex-Mex spot Republic Cantina, owned by Houston-area native Chris Svetlik, posted a picture of a “Ted Cruz Margarita” to Instagram with a tongue-in-cheek tagline: “Channel those beach vibes with this winter storm classic.” Svetlik says it wasn’t meant to be ordered, but the bar will make one for anyone who’s willing to pay $309 — the going rate for a room at the Ritz-Carlton Cancun where Cruz took his family while some residents back home struggled to find shelter, food, and drinkable water. Republic Cantina would donate the proceeds to disaster relief in Texas, he says.

The new Cruz concoction is intentionally disgusting, Svetlik says, with tequila “far worse than what’s on our rail, smoked pineapple and lime, rimmed with ‘sidewalk salt’, and served at the temperature of the Senator’s heart.” It’s the second satirical cocktail from the bar, following the “Tim Boyd Margarita” that poked fun at the Colorado City, Texas, mayor who resigned after telling his constituents in the city didn’t owe them anything and “only the strong will survive.”

Anxo/official photo

Svetlik writes “in all seriousness” that he wants his restaurant to be a place “where Texans of all stripes can share food [and] fellowship despite ideological/political differences,” but “the callousness displayed by Sen. Cruz is absurd and appalling.”

“Texans are tough and are no strangers to natural disasters, but what gets us through is a willingness to roll up our sleeves and help our fellow neighbors and communities,” Svetlik writes. “That a Texan Senator would take a beach vacation while his constituents are literally dying in the cold betrays an utter lack of concern for the people of his state. Regardless of political affiliation, Ted Cruz does Texas shame.”

Not far from Republic Cantina, Anxo Cidery moved even faster to release a drink that dunks on the senator. The $12 “Cruz in Cancun” (coconut rum, tequila, banana liqueur, lime, cinnamon) was released Thursday with a label showing an image of Cruz sporting a sombrero with the hashtag “#ResignTedCruz” and “No Power? No Water? There’s always Cancun!”

Washingtonian reports there was enough demand that Anxo had to restrict the cocktails to preorder-only status starting Friday, February 19.

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