COLUMBUS (WCMH) — Josh Mandel, a candidate in the 2022 Republican primary in the U.S. Senate, had a post removed by Twitter on Thursday.

Mandel posted a poll on Twitter on Thursday morning reading, “Of the various types of illegals flooding across the border, will more crimes be committed by,” with the options of “Muslim Terrorists” or “Mexican Gangbangers.”

Twitter removed the tweet and, in its place, linked to a page titled, “Notices on Twitter and what they mean.” One of the areas is “hateful conduct,” defined as, “You may not promote violence against or directly attack or threaten other people on the basis of race [or] ethnicity.”

Mandel’s called the move “censorship” in a statement.

“Conservatives everywhere should be frightened by the ongoing censorship by Twitter, Facebook, Google and the liberal media,” the statement read. “Last summer, Twitter defended Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s call for genocide of Israel, saying it serves ‘political conversation,’ but when someone like myself or other conservatives raise questions about [President Joe] Biden’s border crisis, which involves human trafficking, drug smuggling, and terrorists attempting to cross the border we are silenced. Big tech should never have the power to decide what speech is allowed in America and I won’t ever shy away from holding politicians accountable for their terrible policies.”

But fellow Republicans rebuked Mandel for his post.

State Senator Matt Dolan wrote, “Bigotry MUST stop. This type of message distracts from the very real crisis at the border. This message also tarnishes the Republican Party. We must do better. We should be better. We can do better!”

And State Senator Jay Hottinger wrote, “Josh Mandel continues to offer NOTHING of substance in the race for U.S. Senate.”

Mandel is seeking to replace Rob Portman, who announced that he would not seek reelection. Mandel and Jane Timken, the former state party chairman, have declared. No Democrats have declared, although former state health director Amy Acton and Rep. Tim Ryan are considering runs.