Watch: Tennessee GOP lt. gov. apologizes in painfully awkward interview amid uproar over racy Instagram controversy

Republicans in the Tennessee State Legislature have been pushing a socially conservative agenda designed to please the Religious Right, from anti-abortion proposals to anti-transgender bills to calls to end same-sex marriage.

Yet conservative Republican Lt. Gov. Randy McNally has stirred controversy with his activities on social media, which include making suggestive comments to a 20-year-old gay man and "liking" some off-color posts.

The 79-year-old McNally addressed that controversy during an interview with Channel 5 News Nashville aired on Thursday, March 9.

McNally told Channel 5 News, "I'm really, really sorry if I've embarrassed my family, embarrassed my friends, embarrassed any of the members of the legislature with the posts. It was not my intent to (embarrass them) and not my intent to hurt them."

McNally, during the interview, said that he befriended the young man on Facebook and Instagram. The Tennessee Republican, responding to a post that showed him scantily clad, posted, "You can turn a rainy day into rainbows and sunshine." And McNally "liked" some posts in which he made risqué comments. In one post, the man wrote that he was a "hoe" but "not a whore." He also wrote, "I’m the one that gets free weed for giving h**d."

McNally was asked, "When people see these posts, what should they take away from them?" And he told Channel 5 News, "Well, I don't know that they should take away a whole lot."

When asked if it was appropriate for him to be liking some of the more risqué posts, the Republican replied, "Probably not. Probably not."

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