AOC Raised $2 Million For Texas In Under 24 Hours While Ted Cruz Abandoned His Home State

"Great occasions do not make heroes or cowards; they simply unveil them to the eyes of men." — Brooke Foss Westcott.

As Texas faced record-low temperatures amid prolonged power outages, bursting pipes, and widespread scarcity of clean water and food, the Lone Star State got a sense of who its real friends are. Ironically, the Republican who was chosen by the state to represent itself in the Senate — Ted Cruz — wasn't one of them. While millions of his fellow Texans struggled to stay warm as temperatures plunged to single digits, Cruz flew with his family to sunny Cancun.

Meanwhile, two of his Democratic political nemeses — Beto O'Rourke and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — were rallying support and aid for the southern state. Ocasio-Cortez, who has frequently sparred with Cruz, raised a whopping $2 million in less than 24 hours for relief efforts in Texas after launching a fundraiser on Twitter early Thursday evening. The congresswoman's office told Yahoo News that the fundraiser crossed the $2 million threshold just before 11 a.m. ET Friday. The funds raised will reportedly go toward 12 food banks and relief organizations, including the Bridge Homeless Recovery Center, Ending Community Homelessness Coalition, Family Eldercare, Feeding Texas, and the Houston Food Bank.

"Charity isn't a replacement for good governance, but we won't turn away from helping people in need when things hit the fan. People understand that now is the time for collective action and doing what we can w/ whatever we've got," Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. "Thank you all so much. I'm at a loss for words. Always in awe of movement work." The congresswoman also revealed that she will meet with Rep. Sylvia Garcia, D-Texas, this weekend to distribute supplies and raise awareness for the millions of Texans affected by the brutal winter storm.

Celia Cole, the CEO of Feeding Texas, said that the group is "humbled" by the donations it has received. "Feeding Texas is humbled by the outpouring of support from people across the country. Hundreds of thousands of Texans are going to need help from their food bank in the days and weeks to come, on top of the millions already struggling to feed their families during the pandemic," said Cole. "We are particularly grateful to our elected leaders in Texas and Washington who are helping raise money for Texas food banks. These donations are critical to helping food banks keep their communities nourished and resilient through this crisis."

Meanwhile, President Joe Biden wasted no time in signing an emergency declaration for Texas, authorizing the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide the state with critical equipment, like generators, and other resources like water and diesel to alleviate the effects of the disaster. However, since the total amount of federal assistance that comes with a federal emergency declaration is capped at $5 million, he is now preparing to sign a major disaster declaration for the state. According to ABC 7, speaking to reporters Friday, Biden said: "I'm going to sign that declaration once it's in front of me. As I said when I ran, I'm going to be a president for all America — all. There's no red or blue."

He also said that he'll plan a visit to Texas as long as he isn't a burden to the crews on the ground. "I had planned on being in Texas the middle of next week, but what I don't want to be is a burden," Biden said, noting that a president traveling to any state means a lot of extra security planning and work for state and local officials. "If in fact it's concluded that I can do without creating a burden for the folks on the ground when they're dealing with this crisis, I plan on going."