ST. PAUL — A Republican legislative candidate is apologizing for old social media posts that admired the Confederacy and called to lynch President Barack Obama after his 2008 election.

Nolan West is running for a seat representing the Blaine area in the Minnesota House. He currently works as an aide for the House GOP.

The Star Tribune (http://strib.mn/2cDtYIJ) reports he has repeatedly posted on Facebook celebrating the Confederacy and reposted ads for flag purchases. In 2011 he called Abraham Lincoln the country’s worst president. Then a teenager, West responded to Obama’s election in 2008 by posting “IT’S LYNCHING TIME.”

West says he’s taken those posts down because they don’t reflect his beliefs. He apologized for making the insensitive remarks.