GREENVILLE (AP) — A North Carolina congressman tweeted that Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris was chosen “for her color and her race.”

Third District Republican Rep. Greg Murphy posted the tweet Wednesday night, but has since deleted it, WITN reported Thursday.

Murphy told the television station that he meant to say “color and gender.”

The tweet was posted after Wednesday night’s vice presidential debate in which Vice President Mike Pence squared off with Harris, the first Black woman to be on a major party ticket.

Murphy also posted that Harris “is not qualified to be POTUS in any way shape or form … She is just not up to the task.”

The state chair of the Democratic Party called on Murphy to “immediately apologize for his repugnant comments.”

“There is no place for racism in North Carolina, and based on the pure racism in this tweet, there is no place for Greg Murphy in elected office,” Wayne Goodwin, North Carolina Democratic Party chairman, said in a statement. “His sentiments aren’t just offensive, they diminish the accomplishments of women of color in North Carolina and across our country.”

Murphy, who was elected to Congress in 2019 to fill an open seat, told the TV station he would not be available for interviews on Thursday. His spokesman didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

The conservative 3rd District covers much of the North Carolina coast, including the Outer Banks and parts of Greenville. He is being challenged by Democrat Daryl Farrow, who is Black.