ANNAPOLIS, Md. — A Maryland state senator who recently announced he’s running for Congress says he didn’t send a tweet describing U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar as an “illegal.”

Republican Sen. Johnny Ray Salling tweeted Monday that last month’s tweet on his account “was not from me.” He added: “I don’t react to statements of negativity.”

Zainab Chaudry, the director Council on American-Islamic Relations, says Salling should apologize or resign.

The Baltimore Sun reported Monday the tweet was posted July 24, in response to a Florida Republican’s tweet about a request for an ethics investigation into Omar, a Minnesota Democrat.

The tweet on Salling’s account said: “Get rid of this illegal know!!!!!”

But Salling said he didn’t remember posting that. The Sun reports he deleted the tweet after the interview, and he suggested he may have been hacked.

He told the newspaper he changed his Twitter password Monday.