Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick says he did not intend a tweet early Sunday morning that said “a man reaps was he sows” as a comment on the mass killing at an Orlando gay club.
Patrick was immediately criticized for the tweet and took it down. But he offered a lengthy explanation on Facebook, saying he always tweets Bible verses on Sunday mornings, and that this one, from Galatians Chapter 6, was scheduled on Thursday.
Early Sunday, a self-declared ISIS supporter, Omar Mateen, killed 50 people and injured 53 others.
Patrick said he didn’t learn of the uproar over his tweet until late Sunday morning because he was on an island with poor Internet connectivity.
“Our scripture was not posted in the-action to the shooting,” he wrote (possibly meaning to say “in reaction” rather than “the-action.”)
The Republican, who became lieutenant governor last year, says on his Facebook page that he offers “Authentic Conservative Leadership.”
“The verse has nothing to do with God’s judgement on any one person or a specific group of people. If some chose to read into it what they wanted they either have never read Galatians Chapter 6 or have misread it,” he said.
“Some wanted the post pulled down and others did not. Let me be clear, I didn’t pull down the FB post & tweet because God’s word is wrong. His word is never wrong,” Patrick wrote. “Taking down his word would be like tearing a page from the Bible because we didn’t like what God was telling us. I took it down to stop the hateful comments and the misinformation being spread of God’s message to all of us- straight or gay.”