State Senator Phillip Wheeler has apologized for using a racist term in a social media post while criticizing the governor of Virginia.

In a Facebook post Friday morning, Wheeler apologized for using the slur as a nickname for Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam. The slur has been intentionally omitted from this story.

Wheeler — a Republican representing Kentucky’s 31 Senate District, which includes Pike, Martin, Lawrence, Morgan and Elliot counties — explained that Northam has acknowledged using the racist nickname in the past, and Wheeler wrote that he was attempting to use the “reprehensible nickname as a way of calling attention to Northam’s disturbing racism in his past.” Wheeler says, “There were better ways of doing this, and I apologize for having offended people and have removed the posts.”

Kentucky’s Democratic Party had called for Wheeler to apologize for the gaff.