AUSTIN (AP) — A county administrator in Texas is apologizing for saying Texas Gov. Greg Abbott “hates trees because one fell on him.”
The Texas Tribune reports that the comment made Friday by Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt, a Democrat, during a panel discussion was first reported in a tweet by the online magazine The Federalist.
Abbott, a Republican, has been paralyzed from the waist down since 1984 when a tree fell on him in Houston while he was jogging.
Eckhardt said on her website and in a tweet that she “made a mistake” and apologizes to Abbott. Eckhardt said she “made a flippant comment that was inappropriate.”
Eckhardt’s comments came during a discussion about the Texas Legislature overriding local ordinances such one in Austin regarding the cutting down of trees.
