Rep. Mike Lawler, a Republican from New York, responded to a report Thursday that he once wore blackface as part of a Halloween costume by saying the costume was “truly meant to be the sincerest form of flattery.”

The New York Times reported that they had obtained photos of Lawler taken around October 2006 that showed him appearing at a college Halloween reunion dressed as Michael Jackson in blackface.

In a statement on JustLawler didn't dispute the authenticity of the photos, saying the costume was “truly the sincerest form of flattery, a true tribute to my musical hero since I was a little kid trying to walk through my mother's kitchen.”

“The ugly practice of blackface was the furthest thing from my mind,” Lawler said The New York Times. “Let me be clear, this is not that.”

Lawler is currently running for re-election. His Democratic opponent, Mondaire Jones, is a black former congressman.

“I am a history student and I am sorry to anyone who takes offense at the photo,” Lawler added in his statement Just. “All you can do is live and learn.”

Lawler is not the first politician to come under fire for allegedly wearing blackface in the past.

In 2019, former Democratic Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam faced backlash when a yearbook photo surfaced showing a man wearing a Ku Klux Klan outfit and another person wearing blackface. Northam briefly apologized for the photo but later denied having any involvement in it.

“I realize that this will be difficult for many people to believe. “Last night I finally had the opportunity to sit down and look at the photo in detail,” Northam told reporters in 2019. “I am not the person in this photo. I did.” Friends looked at it and told me it wasn’t me.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also faced a blackface scandal in 2019 when a photo from 2001 surfaced online. Time The magazine reported that the photo, from an “Arabian Nights”-themed party in 2001, showed Trudeau in blackface and a turban.

“Blacking out the face, regardless of the context or circumstances, is always unacceptable due to the racist history of black faces,” the Canadian prime minister said in 2019 after facing criticism over the photo. “I should have understood that then and I should never have done it.”

Accordingly The New York TimesLawler's photos were posted on social media last week and shared with the publication. A newspaper reporter was able to authenticate the photos of Manhattan College students at the time they were taken.

Update 10/3/24 5:25 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with additional information.