Texas Agriculture Commission Sid Miller quickly came under fire Tuesday for calling Hillary Clinton a “cunt” in a tweet.
Miller is a big-league supporter of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. Miller’s spokesman has called his boss “Donald Trump’s biggest cheerleader and champion in the state of Texas.”
Miller quickly deleted the offending tweet on Tuesday, and his communications director tried to claim that his Twitter account had been hacked. A tweet was posted on his account reading: “@MillerForTexas HAS BEEN HACKED. The disgusting re-tweet has been removed and we have changed all account passwords. Be advised.”
Reporters were immediately skeptical of the “I was hacked” defense. Miller has a long history of tweeting controversial comments on Twitter. And people caught in a bind often say they were hacked as a rushed defense when they face criticism. (Former Rep. Anthony Weiner, for example, claimed he was hacked when photos leaked of a man in underwear. He wasn’t hacked, obviously.)
Shortly after the attempt at damage control, Miller admitted he wasn’t hacked. He said a staffer had “inadvertently retweeted a tweet that they were not aware contained a derogatory term.”
Miller’s tweet, however, wasn’t actually a retweet. It was reportedly cut and pasted from another account. The commissioner also quickly tweeted an apology.
Last year, Miller’s official Facebook page shared a post suggesting that an atomic bomb should take out the “Muslim world.” He blamed a staffer for the post, and his assistant promised that Miller “will ensure that future postings do not reflect views that do not align with his view.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) condemned Miller’s tweet Tuesday afternoon:
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