Congressman Mike Lawlor, a representative for New York’s 17th congressional district, said Thursday a 2006 photo of him wearing blackface to a Halloween party simply shows him impersonating his “childhood idol” Michael Jackson rather than mocking Black people. “When attempting to imitate Michael’s legendary dance moves at a college Halloween party eighteen years ago, the ugly practice of blackface was the furthest thing from my mind,” the Hudson Valley politician said in a statement obtained by The Associated Press. “Let me be clear, this is not that.” The first-term Republican was 20 when he attended the holiday bash as the King of Pop, according to the New York Times, which on Thursday published the photos showing Lawler wearing makeup to darken his face. “I am a student of history and for anyone who takes offense to the photo, I am sorry,” Lawler said. “All you can do is live and learn, and I appreciate everyone’s grace along the way.” Lawlor is currently fighting to keep his congressional seat from Democratic former U.S. Rep. Mondaire Jones, who’s Black. The history of blackface costumes are deeply rooted in entertainment and have largely been associated with demeaning minorities. Talk about such makeup, which is typically used by white actors playing Black characters, was once again hurled into the national spotlight in 2018 when right-wing pundit Megyn Kelly was cut loose by NBC following her controversial statements about wearing blackface. “Back when I was a kid, that was OK, as long as you were dressing up as, like, a character,” she said on air. Critics were quick to tell Kelly the practice is never acceptable to many people. She issued an apology to colleagues before parting ways with NBC. “I realize now that such behavior is indeed wrong, and I am sorry,” Kelly reportedly wrote in an email circulated online. “The history of blackface in our culture is abhorrent; the wounds too deep.” With News Wire Services