Tennessee lieutenant. Gov. Randy McNally, a Republican, announced Monday that he is suspending all social media activity following revelations that he repeatedly commented on posts of nearly naked photos of a young gay model and other LGBTQ personalities.

McNally, 79, initially said last week that he had no intention of stopping when asked why he repeatedly commented on the 20-year-old model’s racy social media posts. He later apologized and said it was not his intention to embarrass his friends, family or members of the Tennessee Legislature.

However, he has since received national attention, including a parody of “Saturday Night Live”, with critics accusing McNally of being a hypocrite. Notably, McNally supported legislation restricting where certain drag shows can take place. He has also emphasized his support for traditional marriage and bills that keep obscenity out of the public sphere.

Some of the posts that have caused the most uproar include his comment about a photo of the model’s backside wearing only underwear; McNally wrote that you can turn a rainy day into rainbow and sunshine. McNally then posted a comment with only heart and fire emojis. In a separate post, McNally posted a heart emoji of the man pulling down his underwear.

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While I now see that I should have been more careful about how my comments and activity would be perceived, my intention was always engagement and encouragement, McNally said in a statement. For this reason, I will be taking a break from my social media activities to reflect on and get more guidance on how to use social media.

McNally added that while he may have made some mistakes, “he didn’t agree that he had a reputation for being anti-gay.” He pointed to his opposition to a 2020 law that continues to provide taxpayer funding to faith-based foster care and adoption agencies, even as those organizations exclude LGBTQ families and others based on religious beliefs.

Still, McNally then pointed to his support for traditional marriage and anti-public obscenity laws.

There is no contradiction here, he said.

McNally became lieutenant governor in 2017. He has been a state legislator since the late 1970s.