A top official in President Trump’s Department of Housing and Urban Development apologized Wednesday after mocking journalist April Ryan in a tweet.
In the since-deleted tweet, Lynne Patton, who heads the HUD region that encompasses New York and New Jersey, referred to Ryan as “Miss Piggy” and labeled her a “bankrupt blogger.”
Patton later deleted the tweet, saying it was “beneath me” and apologizing to Ryan both from her personal and HUD twitter accounts
{mosads}“I deleted my last tweet by choice. No one from this Administration contacted me. It was beneath me & I apologize to @AprilDRyan,” Patton wrote. “My parents raised me to respect others & I regret my response. I apologize to them, @SecretaryCarson & the Trump family. They deserved better.”
Patton posted the original tweet from her personal account after a series of other tweets slamming Ryan.
Ryan, who works as the White House correspondent for American Urban Radio Networks, replied to Patton’s original tweets, telling Patton to “kick rocks.”
Patton was appointed to her role at HUD last June after previously serving as a longtime event planner for the Trump family. She was also a vice president at the Eric Trump Foundation from 2011 through January 2017.