Rep. Dave Brat (R-Va.) deleted an Instagram photo with a constituent Monday after receiving backlash on social media.

The photo, posted Monday to Brat's Instagram account, shows the GOP lawmaker with a man holding a sign that reads "Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonWhat Senate Republicans have said about election-year Supreme Court vacancies Bipartisan praise pours in after Ginsburg's death Trump carries on with rally, unaware of Ginsburg's death MORE for U.S. Ambassador to Libya."

Rep. Brat deletes photo of 'Hillary for U.S. Ambassador to Libya' sign https://t.co/0O4xIWX47n pic.twitter.com/bzNgrqACL0 — Leonardo da Vinci (@leodavinci2000) July 4, 2017

A caption on the now-deleted post read "sign says it all."

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In a follow-up post after deleting the photo, Brat claimed that the post had been "misinterpreted."

"Dear Instagram friends, an earlier pic today was being misinterpreted so it has been removed," the second post read.

Brat also told a local Richmond NBC affiliate that the post wasn't meant as a call to violence against Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee.

"No, that's — that's laughable, right?" Brat told NBC12. "I thought the guy was just getting at the Benghazi injustice that everybody knows is a tragedy. It had to do with all these tapes and stuff," he said, referring to the 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya, that occurred while Clinton was secretary of State.

"If this can be interpreted in any way as negative in that way — I apologize for that," he added.

In the interview with NBC12, Brat said that the standard for rhetoric must be set by lawmakers.

"The tone does start at the top; it's my responsibility to get it right," Brat said Monday. "So, we're doing the best we can to have a rational, civil discourse. You saw me at all my town halls, I got yelled at for an hour and a half and smiled and took every question. ... That's the way I behave."