![Sid Miller Sid Miller](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/sid-miller.jpg?quality=85&w=2400)
The Republican leader of a Texas state agency on Tuesday referred to Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton as a “c—t” in a since-deleted tweet.
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller blamed his staff for a tweet that used a derogatory term in place of Clinton’s name while cheering Donald Trump’s one-point lead in a poll. “PENNSYLVANIA: NEW AUTO ALLIANCE POLL. TRUMP 44 C–T 43. Go Trump Go!” read the tweet, which was posted on Miller’s account.
A Miller spokesman initially said the Twitter account was “hacked,” the San Antonio Express-News reports. The elected official said in an interview with the newspaper that a staff member was responsible.
“You can tell by reading it it’s not something I sent out. I hadn’t read it,” he said, adding that he was “sorry it happened.”
“We dealt with it. It was a simple mistake, an oversight,” Miller added. “It should have never happened. I would never talk that way.”
More Must-Reads from TIME
- Breaking Down the 2024 Election Calendar
- How Nayib Bukele’s ‘Iron Fist’ Has Transformed El Salvador
- What if Ultra-Processed Foods Aren’t as Bad as You Think?
- How Ukraine Beat Russia in the Battle of the Black Sea
- Long COVID Looks Different in Kids
- How Project 2025 Would Jeopardize Americans’ Health
- What a $129 Frying Pan Says About America’s Eating Habits
- The 32 Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2024
Contact us at letters@time.com