McNally, 79, initially said last week that he “had no intention of stopping” when pressed about why he repeatedly commented on racy social media posts by the 20-year-old model. He later issued an apology, saying it was not his intention to embarrass his friends, family or members of the Tennessee Legislature.

However, he has since received national attention — including being parodied on “Saturday Night Live” — with critics accusing McNally of being hypocritical. Particularly, McNally supported legislation restricting where certain drag shows can take place. He has also highlighted his support of “traditional marriage” and of bills that “keep obscenity out of the public sphere.”

Some of the posts that have sparked the most uproar include his comment on a photo of the model’s backside, clad only in underwear; McNally wrote that “you can turn a rainy day into rainbow and sunshine.” McNally then posted a comment using only heart and fire emojis. In a separate post, McNally posted a heart emoji of the man pulling down his underwear.

“While I see now that I should have been more careful about how my comments and activity would be perceived, my intent was always engagement and encouragement,” McNally said in a statement. “For this reason, I will be pausing my social media activity in order to reflect and receive more guidance on the use of social media.”

McNally added that, while he may have made “some mistakes,” he disagreed that he had a record of being “anti-gay.” He pointed to his opposition of a 2020 law that assured continued taxpayer funding of faith-based foster care and adoption agencies even if those organizations exclude LGBTQ families and others based on religious beliefs.

Yet McNally then pointed to his support of “traditional marriage” and anti-public obscenity bills.

“There is no contradiction here,” he said.

McNally became lieutenant governor in 2017. He has been a state lawmaker since the late 1970s.