Texas Official Refers To Clinton As A ‘C***’ In Tweet Touting Trump Lead

Texas state Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller stands in his office in Austin, USA, 12 September 2016. Miller is part of Donald Trump's team of advisers. Photo by: Michael Donhauser/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images
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A Republican state official in Texas posted a tweet Tuesday of a poll showing Donald Trump in the lead in Pennsylvania against Hillary Clinton.

But, rather than refer to Clinton by her name, Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller referred to her by one word: “cunt.”

Miller tweeted a Pennsylvania Auto Alliance poll showing Trump up 44-43 in the state when he used the term to refer to Clinton, according to screenshots of the tweet. The tweet was deleted within 15 minutes, according to The Texas Tribune:

A spokesperson for Miller claimed to the San Antonio Express News that the tweet was the result of a hack.

“We’re trying to get to the bottom of it. We think we’ve been hacked,” Mark Loeffler, communications director for the Texas Department of Agriculture, told the newspaper.

A spokesperson for Miller first claimed to the San Antonio Express News that the tweet was the result of a hack, an unnamed staffer told Dallas News reporter Lauren McGaughy that the tweet was a result of a staffer copying and pasting the tweet without vetting it.

Texas Tribune reporter Patrick Svitek seemed to get a third story from the office, saying that tweet was retweeted without being looked at properly. According to the screenshot, the tweet was sent directly from Miller’s account, not retweeted.

Miller’s account finally attempted to set the record straight in a series of three tweets, apologizing for the term and again pinning the blame on a staffer “retweeting” a tweet without vetting it.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) denounced the tweet in a statement obtained by McGaughy.

Last week Miller mocked a WikiLeaks email that appeared to show Clinton staffers vetting a tweet to be sent from the campaign’s account. Miller said that he didn’t need a dozen people to check his tweets, as his thoughts were all his own.

Miller lists himself as a “deplorable” in his Twitter bio, referencing support for Trump. His account has continued to post tweets since deleting one touting the Pennsylvania Auto Alliance poll, although these are free of obscenity.

This post has been updated.

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