CBS News is reporting that Texas Deputy Attorney General Aaron Reitz is apologizing to Simone Biles for calling the Olympic champion a “national embarrassment,” CBS Houston affiliate KHOU-TV reports.
The superstar gymnast, who lives in Spring, just north of Houston, has pulled out of two competitions in the Tokyo Games, saying she needs to focus on her mental health. It’s still not clear if she’ll participate in next week’s individual events.
In a now-deleted tweet, Reitz quote-tweeted video from Kerri Strug’s 1996 Olympic performance on an injured ankle then said, “Contrast this with our selfish, childish national embarrassment, Simone Biles.”
Late Wednesday afternoon, Reitz tweeted again about Biles. But this time, he did an abrupt about-face, saying he owed her “an apology. A big one”:
