Culture writer for MTV News Ira Madison III attacked Alabama Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions and his Asian-American granddaughter as a “prop” to distract from his “racism.”

“Sessions, sir, kindly return this Asian baby to the Toys “R” Us you stole her from,” Madison tweeted.

https://twitter.com/ira/status/818836551262048256

https://twitter.com/ira/status/818841413135855620

https://twitter.com/ira/status/818841675728568322

https://twitter.com/ira/status/818842004452966400

After receiving a deluge of criticism, Madison deleted his initial tweet.

https://twitter.com/ira/status/818852697029955590

https://twitter.com/ira/status/818859326018293760

https://twitter.com/ira/status/818859772791427072

Madison was not alone; though he received the biggest backlash for his joke, a number of left-wing pundits and authors made similar cracks — presumably to demonstrate how anti-racist they are.

lol loving jeff sessions' "how can i possibly be a racist when i'm holding this nonwhite baby" moment — sara david (@SaraQDavid) January 10, 2017

Oh, I get it. Jeff Sessions has half-Asian grandbabies. CONFIRMED. Pack it up, guys. https://t.co/Ybda0mMySh — Donovan X. Ramsey (@iDXR) January 10, 2017

Notice how Sessions made a big show of kissing a baby before being sworn in…. — JoeMyGod (@JoeMyGod) January 10, 2017

Jeff Sessions turns up to committee hearing into whether he's racist with a babyhttps://t.co/RBSLEAggm1 pic.twitter.com/vQkr3VtWm5 — Independent US (@IndyUSA) January 10, 2017

https://twitter.com/kashanacauley/status/818833742571732993

Amazing optics. Sessions sitting with a child on his lap as opponents try to paint him as cold pic.twitter.com/uJp5aFx8mQ — Domenico Montanaro (@DomenicoNPR) January 10, 2017

https://twitter.com/MythiliSk/status/818828893855633408