John Bogna
A public outcry is reportedly forcing the Texas Agriculture Commission Sid Miller’s office to do some backpedalling in regard to a “joke of the day” post on the commissioner’s public Facebook page.
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According to the Austin-American Statesman, the joke manages to be offensive on two different fronts, as it touches on both mental health and stereotypes about Pakistani people:
“My friend was so depressed last night thinking about the economy, wars, jobs, his savings, Social Security, retirement funds etc., he decided to call the Suicide Lifeline,” the post read. “He got a call center in Pakistan, and when he told them he was suicidal, they got all excited and asked if he could drive a truck.”
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Initially, he shared his comments Sunday, but eventually deleted the post.
Miller’s spokesman claims the Commissioner did not know about the post, did not publish it personally and said their team took it down due to the nature of the content.
Miller’s spokesman Todd Smith said the following in an interview:
“The post in question was put up without the content being reviewed” and “was taken down from the page within minutes of it being posted. In addition to Commissioner Miller, we have several campaign team members who post regularly.”
Smith added in an email to the Statesman:
“Commissioner Miller and I both have a dear friend who recently lost a son to suicide. It was a tragic event and no laughing matter. As soon as the content of the so-called ‘joke’ was discovered, it was immediately removed.”
But this isn’t the first time Miller faced backlash over his social media:
During the 2016 election season, his Twitter account reportedly referred to Hilary Clinton as the ‘c-word,’ shortly taken down with an issued apology after.
Like he did before, he blamed for a Tweet on someone else.
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