Top Texas official endorses nuking 'the Muslim world,' blames staffers, won't apologize

On Sunday night, the official Facebook page for Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller shared a photo of an atomic mushroom cloud bookended by the following text: "Japan has been at peace with the U.S. since August 9, 1945. It's time we made peace with the Muslim world." The post was erased early Monday, but not before people noticed. Miller, in his first year on the job, is on a business trip to China, but his campaign spokesman, Todd Smith, blamed Miller's staff for the post.

Not that Smith, or Miller, is apologizing for appearing to endorse the nuclear annihilation of "the Muslim world" — or punishing the staff member who posted the photo. "We're not going to apologize for the posts that show up on our Facebook page," Smith told The Texas Tribune. "I don’t know who did it, but I'm not going to start a witch hunt to find out who did." In fact, Smith added, he found the post "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," said Smith, who, again, works for the Texas ag commissioner. Miller has made his own remarks about staying awake at night worrying the U.S. will become "a Muslim country," The Dallas Morning News notes, and before the post was erased, it had 3,000 likes and 300 comments.

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