GOP Congressman Who Wore Blackface Says He Wanted To 'Pay Homage' To Music Idol

Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) has apologized after The New York Times obtained pictures that showed him in blackface for a Halloween costume while attending Manhattan College (now Manhattan University) in 2006.

Lawler, who is running for reelection against Black Democrat and former Rep. Mondaire Jones in a New York swing district, appears with a darkened face in a photograph that shows him wearing a Thriller music video-like red jacket as part of a Michael Jackson  costume.

Lawler, in an interview with CNN s Kaitlan Collins on Thursday, said he cant change what happened 18 years ago but he understands its not something hed do today and why people would be offended by it.

For that, Im sorry, but for me, there was no ill intent. There was no effort to malign or make fun of or disparage Black Americans, Lawler said.

It was really an effort to pay homage to somebody who was a musical idol for me.

Lawler, in a statement to the Times, referred to his aim with the costume as truly the sincerest form of flattery to Jackson while noting that the ugly practice of blackface was the furthest thing from his mind.

Let me be clear, this is not that, he said.

Lawler who is known as a super-fan of the pop icon is skilled in moonwalking , attended one of Jacksons Madison Square Garden shows in 2001 and had flown from New York to California in high school to attend some of his 2005 criminal trial.

Jackson was charged with molesting a 13-year-old boy at his Neverland Ranch estate at the time. He would later be acquitted on all charges.

J. Randy Taraborrelli  a Jackson biographer who helped get the future congressman into the courtroom wrote in his book that Lawler was removed after he muttered something derogatory under his breath while feeling disgusted by testimony against the pop icon, the Times noted.

Lawler, in his interview with Collins, argued theres a stark difference between dressing up for Halloween for the purpose of an homage and dressing up in blackface to demean Black people.

Collins noted that former Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam , who was once the focus of a blackface scandal himself, also had admitted to darkening his face for a Jackson costume .

She asked Lawler what hed tell Black people in his district who are bothered by his Jackson costume.

I understand how this can be very upsetting to somebody. And so, certainly, I do apologize for that, he replied.