A tweet from Jemele Hill was reportedly referred to the Secret Service due to references to President Trump Donald John TrumpBubba Wallace to be driver of Michael Jordan, Denny Hamlin NASCAR team Graham: GOP will confirm Trump's Supreme Court nominee before the election Southwest Airlines, unions call for six-month extension of government aid MORE and the assassination of Malcolm X.

In the now-deleted message, The Atlantic staff writer joked that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Alexandria Ocasio-CortezThe Memo: Dems face balancing act on SCOTUS fight Ocasio-Cortez hits back at Marjorie Taylor Greene over 'dumb blonde' joke on Twitter Ocasio-Cortez to voters: Tell McConnell 'he is playing with fire' with Ginsburg's seat MORE (D-N.Y.) should have shouted "GETCHO HAND OUT MY POCKET" during Trump's State of the Union address on Tuesday, a reference to the words shouted by an audience member seconds before Malcolm X was assassinated in 1965.

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A spokesman for the Secret Service confirmed to the Washington Examiner that the tweet had been referred to the agency, but would not confirm whether an investigation had been launched.

“While the Secret Service is aware of the subject’s comments, we cannot confirm or comment on the absence or existence of specific investigations. We can say, however, the Secret Service investigates all threats related to our protectees," the agency told the Examiner.

Hill apologized for the message in a series of tweets Wednesday, explaining that she has used the joke in other circumstances but would never call for violence against Trump.

"Let me be clear: I have often disagreed with many of the president’s policies, his behavior and rhetoric, but I would never call for violence against him, or any person. I apologize for breathing life into such an absurd assumption," she wrote.

Let me be clear: I have often disagreed with many of the president’s policies, his behavior and rhetoric, but I would never call for violence against him, or any person. I apologize for breathing life into such an absurd assumption. — Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) February 7, 2019

"I literally have used GETCHO HAND OUT OF MY POCKET a bunch of other times on Twitter, and always in a manner where you want to escape or distract from a situation. Never in a way that was harmful or malicious," she added.

So, FYI .. i literally have used GETCHO HAND OUT OF MY POCKET a bunch of other times on Twitter, and always in a manner where you want to escape or distract from a situation. Never in a way that was harmful or malicious. pic.twitter.com/Hk7JLvwrdV — Jemele Hill (@jemelehill) February 7, 2019

Hill left ESPN last year and joined The Atlantic after a brief suspension from the sports network in 2017 over tweets about the president. She covers sports, race, gender and politics at the publication.