New Mississippi State head football coach Mike Leach has deleted a series of messages he posted on Twitter in which he asked critical questions about Mitt Romney, the lone Republican senator to vote against President Trump in his impeachment trial Wednesday.

Leach, a Trump supporter, posted the messages on Twitter after midnight Thursday in Mississippi. By Thursday afternoon, they were removed.

Asked why he removed them, Leach responded in a text message to USA TODAY Sports, “Nothing really to report. I just asked questions. Then I thought it was drawing more attention than it deserved.”

In one deleted tweet, Leach asked, “As an American, does ANYONE, REALLY want Mitt Romney on their side?!”

A person identified as Will Ginther then replied by asking, “Damn mike you drunk?”

Leach replied, “Is Mitt?!”

In another deleted tweet, Leach asked, “Those that believe in the competence of Mitt Romney, what do you trust him to do?”

The tweets received a range of responses, some critical of Romney, some critical of Leach.

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“No one cares about this or thinks you have a grasp on politics,” another Twitter user wrote to him in response.

Leach replied, “I will debate you on any subject on earth. Seriously?”

Leach had not deleted such replies by Thursday afternoon, only his original tweets about Romney.

Another deleted tweet from Leach said, “So, either party, who votes to replace it what Mitt wants? He DOES appear to have it ALL figured out.”

A message seeking comment from Mississippi State was not immediately returned. Leach recently was hired at Mississippi State from Washington State, where he also deleted a tweet that drew criticism in 2018. In that case, he shared a hoax video about former President Obama that had been edited in a way that had Obama appearing to deliver a message what was quite different than what he actually said in full context.

That tweet drew a firestorm of criticism from WSU alumni and supporters and might have cost the university $1.6 million in donations, the university said.

Because the tweets in this case came at a late hour, some Twitter users made remarks about what he was doing up at that time.

"Equally important is why are you up?" Leach asked one. "I’m a brooder and I’m haunted by trying to be precise with what is ahead of me, what is your excuse?"

Leach, 58, befriended Trump in 2004 and helped campaign for him in Washington state in 2016.

Trump was acquitted in his Senate impeachment trial on a party-line vote except for Romney from Utah.

Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. E-mail: bschrotenb@usatoday.com.