Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller is under attack for a shared Facebook post and Democrats are demanding an apology.
Miller, who is serving as Texas’ 12th Commissioner of Agriculture, is currently on a trade mission to China and did not personally share the image that has him in hot waters. The post, which has since been deleted, was a picture of a nuclear mushroom cloud that read “Japan has been at peace with the US since August 9, 1945… It’s time we made peace with the Muslim world.”
Todd Smith, Miller’s spokesman, has said that Miller and his staff will not be apologizing for the post and, though Miller didn’t share the image personally, there will be no “witch hunt” to discover who among the staff is responsible for sharing the post.
"We're not going to apologize for the posts that show up on our Facebook page," said Smith, who estimated that 18 people have access to the campaign account. "I don't know who did it, but I'm not going to start a witch hunt to find out who did.”
The Texas Democratic Party was immediately offended and wasted no time in making demands of the Texas Republican Party, specifically Texas Republican Chairman Tom Mechler.
Texas Democratic Party Deputy Executive Director Manny Garcia issued a statement decrying, not only Miller, but also Republicans at-large.
As expected, the Dems have placed themselves on the moral high ground by implying that only Texas Dems know what the Texan values of kindness and friendliness are. Because “racist, xenophobic hate speech qualifies you for higher office with Republicans’ Tea Party fringe base.” Texans are apparently ”living in fear of a state embarrassment every time a Republican official opens their mouth or gets indicted."
"It would be laughable if it wasn't so frightening that these guys are in charge of state government. Texas families deserve far more than living in fear of a state embarrassment every time a Republican official opens their mouth or gets indicted," said Garcia. “We hope Sid Miller shows some respect for Texans and the responsibility of holding state office and issues an apology.”
Smith said Monday that Miller was not advocating any nuclear bombings. When Smith read the post that Monday morning, he found it ”thought-provoking.”
"I read the post this morning, and we're at the 60th anniversary of dropping the atom bomb in order to destroy an insidious enemy that was intent on destroying American lives, and we face a similar enemy who has vowed to destroy American lives, and I think that's the topic that the American people are focused on," Smith said.