A Democratic judge in Texas apologized for saying Republican Gov. Greg Abbott “hates trees because one fell on him.”
Abbott, 61, was paralyzed when he was 26 years old after an oak tree fell on him while he was jogging in Houston in July 1984. The incident paralyzed him from the waist down, and he has since used a wheelchair.
The crowd reportedly laughed at Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt’s comment made Friday at the Texas Tribune Festival. The remark was made in the context of the Texas Legislature overriding local ordinances like Austin’s tree ordinance.
In her apology later Friday, Eckhardt said her remark was “flippant,” “inappropriate,” and there was “no excuse” for it.
“In my panel today at the Texas Tribune Festival on ‘Public Enragement’ I spoke about the importance of being able to disagree without being disagreeable. Then I said something disagreeable,” Eckhardt said in a statement. “I want to apologize to Governor Abbott. I made a flippant comment that was inappropriate. The comment did nothing to further the debate I was participating in, much less further the political discourse in our community, state, and nation. While the Governor and I disagree on a number of issues, that is no excuse to be disagreeable.”
Travis County Republican Chairman Matt Mackowiak said Eckhardt showed a “profound lack of compassion” toward someone who has a disability.
“Judge Eckhardt apparently believes that his disability is open to ridicule if it helps her make a political argument. This joke represents a profound lack of compassion from Judge Eckhardt,” he said. “There is no place for insulting Americans with disabilities and Judge Eckhardt should know better.”
Abbott sued the homeowner and the tree service company that had inspected the tree before it fell on him. He was awarded millions of dollars in a 1986 settlement that provides him a six-figure yearly income for the rest of his life.
“Money doesn’t heal anything. Money doesn’t allow me to walk. It doesn’t allow me to dance with my wife. It doesn’t allow me to pick up my daughter. It doesn’t allow me to walk my daughter down the aisle when she gets married,” Abbott said in 2013. “If you could name the person I could write the check to, I’d send all this money right back if I could walk again.”
