Texas official apologises after telling Hispanic judge to 'speak English'

'She is a joke. Speak English this is not Mexico'

Lina Hidalgo also the first Latina and woman to be elected as Harris County’s top official (Lina Hidalgo - Facebook)

A county official in Texas apologised for insulting a local judge for speaking in Spanish during a press conference.

Commissioner Mark Tice faced backlash for calling Judge Lina Hidalgo a “joke” for answering questions from reporters in Spanish.

Ms Hidalgo, however, was actually speaking and translating between both Spanish and English.

On Tuesday, Mr Tice apologised to Ms Hidalgo and the Hispanic community and said he “regretted” his words.

Ms Hildago is a judge in Harris County, which is home to the city of Houston where 43 per cent of the nearly 5 million residents identify either has Hispanic or Latina, according to the US Census Bureau.

She is also the first Latina and woman to be elected as Harris County’s top official.

The controversy stemmed from Ms Hidalgo appearing in a live streamed Facebook live video where she was answering questions regarding a chemical fire cleanup in Spanish and English.

During the livestream, while Ms Hidalgo was speaking, Mr Tice commented: “She is a joke. Speak English this is not Mexico.”

He doubled down on his comments when speaking to the Houston Chronicle.

“it’s real simple,” Mr Tice said to the local paper. “This is the United States. Speak English.”

In response to the swift backlash, Mr Tice walked back on his comments. He apologised for his over-emotional response and said he had thought there was no English translation given to the questions and answered asked in Spanish.

“If that is not the case, then I sincerely apologise,” Mr Tice wrote on Facebook. “I recognise how my response could have been interpreted in a derogatory manner and for that I am sorry.”

Kiran Khalid, Ms Hidalgo’s director of communications, told the Houston Chronicle that the judge will continue to speak both in Spanish and English despite Mr Tice’s original objections.

The judge “represents all of Harris County and given the county’s composition and her bilingual skills,” Ms Khalid said, “she will continue to communicate as broadly as possible especially when public safety is at stake.”