Republican House candidate Carl Paladino suggested on a radio show that Attorney General Merrick Garland probably should be executed following the FBI search of President Donald Trump s Florida estate last week, according to The Buffalo News .

Garland should not only be impeached, he probably should be executed, Paladino said in an interview with a Breitbart radio host last week, according to the outlet.

The guy is just lost. Hes a lost soul. Hes trying to get an image, and his methodology is just terrible, he added. To raid the home of a former president is just ... people are scratching their heads and theyre saying, What is wrong with this guy?

Paladino is running for the GOP nomination to replace the retiring Rep. Chris Jacobs (R-N.Y.) in western New York state. He is a businessman who previously ran for governor in New York in 2010. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), chair of the House Republican Conference and third-ranking member in GOP House leadership, has endorsed his campaign.

A Stefanik spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment.

When asked later in the interview to explain his comment suggesting the execution of the U.S. attorney general, Paladino claimed he was just being facetious .