Photo shows U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler wearing blackface at a college Halloween party in 2006

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) – U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler apologized Thursday after the New York Times obtained photos showing him in blackface about two decades ago at a university Halloween costume party where he dressed up as Michael Jackson.

The photos were released as Lawler, a first-term Republican, is in a competitive re-election fight for his congressional seat in New York’s Hudson Valley.

In a statement provided to The Associated Press, Lawler described himself as a longtime Jackson superfan who was trying to pay tribute to the pop star.

“When I tried to imitate Michael’s legendary dance moves at a college Halloween party eighteen years ago, the furthest thing from my mind was the ugly practice of blackface. To be clear, that’s not the point,” he said, adding that the costume was “intended to be an authentic tribute to one of my childhood idols.”

“I am a student of history and I apologize to anyone who is offended by this photo,” Lawler said. “All you can do is live and learn, and I appreciate the grace we receive from everyone we meet along the way.”

“Times”. reported that the photo was taken in 2006, when Lawler was 20 years old. In a photo published by the newspaper, Lawler can be seen wearing a red jacket and posing with his arms outstretched in one of Jackson’s signature dance moves. He used bronzer to darken his face.

The congressman is a well-documented admirer of Jackson.

Last year, Everyday Beast reported on Lawler’s obsession with Jackson. The biography of the pop icon “Michael Jackson: The Magic, The Madness, The Whole Story” tells how Lawler, at the age of 18, flew from New York to California to attend Jackson’s criminal trial after the musician was accused of molestation child . According to a biographer’s account, Lawler was “so disgusted” by some of the testimony “that he could not help muttering something offensive under his breath” and was thrown out of the courtroom.

In his statement Thursday, Lawler said that “one of my greatest memories” was attending Jackson’s concert at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Lawler faces a tough race against former Democratic Rep. Mondaire Jones, who is black. Lawler took office in 2022 and has since become a mainstay on television news shows.

Blackface Minstrelsy it took hold in New York in the 1830s and became popular among whites after the Civil War, although from the beginning of its use it was considered offensive to blacks.

Several politicians and celebrities have been criticized for wearing blackface.