Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick Deletes 'You Reap What You Sow' Tweet Posted After Florida Massacre

AUSTIN, TX -- Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick -- an ultra-conservative member of state government unafraid to infuse himself on issues opposing his political ideology -- is being roundly criticized for his social media post just hours after the mass shooting at a Florida gay nightclub: "Man reaps what he sows," read the graphic.

That post has since been deleted, but the response to it was swift and suffused with outrage. The tweet came mere hours after 50 people were killed in a massacre at a popular gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida.

Patrick's media handler, Allen Blakemore, issued a statement expressing condolences for the victims but also explaining the religious-infused tweet was scheduled ahead of time -- part of Patrick's Sunday ritual of sharing Bible verses -- and not tailored in response to the shooting of mostly gay people at a nightclub.

“The Lt. Governor is traveling out of the country, but our social media team has deleted the posts and graphics," Blakemore said. "We regret the unfortunate timing of these posts and ask everyone to join us in praying for the people of Orlando in this awful time.”

By early afternoon, Patrick himself responded to the controversy -- on his Facebook page and Twitter account -- from an undisclosed island location on which he's currently vacationing.

"This morning as every Sunday morning for the past several years we post a verse from scripture," Patrick wrote. "Those posts are chosen in advance and scheduled in advance. As noted to the media earlier the post from Galatians, that received many hateful comments, was put on the schedule Thursday. Our scripture was not posted in response to the shooting."

But rather than a simple apology -- for the bad timing, inadvertent or otherwise -- Patrick took the opportunity in his lengthy post to further delve into his personal religious beliefs.

"The verse has nothing to do with God's judgement on any one person or a specific group of people," Patrick wrote of the "reap-what-you-sow" passage that was posted hours after the killing. "If some chose to read into it what they wanted they either have never read Galatians Chapter 6 or have misread it."

My Facebook statement regarding this morning's Bible verse post: https://t.co/BNej0QZdC8
— Dan Patrick (@DanPatrick) June 12, 2016

In what many expected would be a pithy and succinct apology for the ill-timed post, Patrick composed a rather lengthy post instead in which he expressed his own measure of outrage at being forced to take down a Scripture on his Facebook page, something he said is tantamount to ripping a page off the Bible itself.

"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. 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."

Patrick expressed regret at not having responded to the outrage sooner, but explained he was away from the state with an inferior Internet connection.

"I'm actually on an island. Internet is slow," Patrick wrote. "I first heard of the news late this morning from a reporter. However, this time lag has given me an opportunity to reflect on this tragedy, your comments, our war on terrorism, our divided nation and God's word for all of us."

Not everyone was convinced of Patrick's insistence his tweets were pre-scheduled ahead of the massacre of a group comprising mostly gay people. Patrick is known for vociferously voicing his take on gay-related issues or those affecting the transgender community -- sometimes peppering his pronouncements with Scripture in a deeply conservative state where the conflation by conservative lawmakers of politics and religion is an accepted fact of life.

Patrick recently concluded something of a media tour utilizing national television outlets -- CNN, MSNBC, FOX and others -- to express his outrage over directions by President Barack Obama to school districts on dealing with transgender school children wanting to use bathrooms labeled with the gender to which they identify.

Patrick was outraged by the suggestion, positing Obama's directive as opening the door to assaults of women and children by transgender individuals. Given such knee-jerk reactions to myriad issues related to the gay or transgender communities -- flash points among conservatives offering them sounding boards to reiterate their own faith-based views -- some were skeptical of Patrick's explanation related to his latest tweet.

"Maybe if you were not KNOWN for using religion against the LGBT citizens," wrote Cindy Noble Cole. "You are known for this. You take pride in doing this. Must be an awful quandary trying to decide if you should praise the shooter for ridding the world of people you have worked relentlessly to harm or denounce him for his religion."

Mark Martin was succinct in his response: "As a gay man, I am truly ashamed that you are an American," he wrote on Patrick's Facebook page.

Susan Pierce called attention to Patrick's historical mix of politics and religion: "Leave religion out of politics or get out of politics. You could become a preacher...hopefully one that leaves politics out of religion. Stop preaching to us. STOP PREACHING! Or stay on that island!"

Jodie Tilmon also was unconvinced of Patrick's explanation related to his scriptural tweet coming on the heels of the worst mass killing in U.S. history: "That seems a little too convenient and I do not believe you. It is absolutely shameful that your twitter feed would state such an insensitive statement.It is a slap in the face to all of the people hurt, killed and the entire LGBT community."

Blakemore, the media handler, boasted after Patrick won the 2014 election to secure the Texas lieutenant governor's post about Patrick's prolific use of social media to convey his views to his base. The election was won in large part to the social media tactics, Blakemore explained, enabling him to convey his beliefs directly to his base without the worry of a filter by mainstream media.

"Dan Patrick Credits Victory To Social Media, Selfies, And Staunch Conservatism," the headline to a post-victory press release reads. To this day, Patrick is known for not shying away from taking to the keyboard to deliver his stance on issues -- often twinged with religiosity -- via Twitter, Facebook or other social media platforms.

True to form, even after deleting the "You reap what you sow" that drew such widespread outrage and condemnation just hours after the slaughter of a gay crowd, he kept one passage from Scripture up on his Twitter account that was posted at about 7:30 a.m. -- also mere hours after the closing-time massacre at the Florida nightclub.

"The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord," the remaining tweet reads. "He is their stronghold in times of trouble." Before the post, a personal sentiment from the lieutenant governor on the day of the worst mass shooting in U.S. history: "Have a blessed Sunday!"

Have a blessed Sunday! pic.twitter.com/RaoitzD7fV
— Dan Patrick (@DanPatrick) June 12, 2016