Watch How Differently Morning Joe and Fox & Friends Report on Ted Cruz Handing out Water to Texas Storm Victims

The editorial divide of opinion programming on MSNBC and Fox News is well known. Still, the difference was on stark display on Monday morning, evidence by how Senator Ted Cruz’s weekend activities were reported in very different manners by competing morning shows, Fox & Friends and Morning Joe.

While Texans recover from a catastrophic winter storm that left dozens dead and millions without power and water, Senator Cruz handed out water bottles and barbecue to first responders, just days after the embarrassed senator returned from a Cancun resort while the state he represents was in peril.

Morning Joe took the cynical view shared by many on Twitter that the photos that emerged of Cruz doling out water and food were mere damage control. As you can see in the video montage above, Mika Brzezinski took a less than charitable view of Cruz’s actions.

The Morning Joe co-host noted that Senator Cruz was “in damage control mode after rushing back” after noting the photos he posted on social media with #TexasStrong, she exasperated, “Are you kidding me?” She then noted how “many online criticized the move as simply a photo-op,” adding, “Obviously it is. He wasn’t planning on being there. He was going to be on the beach.”

On the other hand, how Fox & Friends reported the photos of Cruz doling out water and food that would have viewers believe he was genuinely helping his fellow Texans, as the chyron stated. Fox & Friends news presenter Jillian Mele reported, “Meanwhile, senator Ted Cruz handed out water to storm victims and served barbecue to first responders,” she noted, but only mentioned his controversial trip to Cancun in a very different context.

“This, as United Airlines is investigating who leaked the senator’s flight information revealing when he was supposed today originally return to Texas after the controversial trip to Cancún,” she continued, curiously focusing on how Cruz may have been a victim in this story.

Cruz flew from Houston with his family last week to spend the weekend at a Ritz Carlton resort in Cancun, but as photos of his travel leaked and news spread, he caught the first trip back to his home state and quickly went into crisis mode, not to help his fellow Texans, but to repair his reputation.

The distinct and different presentations of Cruz handing out water photos between these two outlets are at once not at all surprising and yet still striking in different tones. It is also a near-perfect example of the balkanized opinion news ecosystems in which we find ourselves and a solid explainer of some of the divisions we are experiencing.

Watch above via MSNBC and Fox News.