GOP rep: Jerry Falwell Jr. should step down as Liberty University president over 'appalling' behavior

A Republican congressman with links to Liberty University declared Thursday that Jerry Falwell Jr. should resign his post as president of the institution, citing his "ongoing behavior" that the lawmaker called "appalling."

What are the details?

Rep. Mark Walker (R-N.C.), a former pastor, tweeted, "Jerry Falwell Jr's ongoing behavior is appalling. As a Music Faculty Advisory Board Member and former instructor @LibertyU, I'm convinced Falwell should step down. None of us are perfect, but students, faculty, alumni and @LUPraise deserve better."

Walker did not get into specifics regarding what "behavior" he was referring to, but Falwell raised eyebrows earlier this week with a quickly deleted Instagram post showing him with his arm around a woman who is not his wife. Both were posing with their pants' zippers undone and Falwell was holding a dark-colored drink.

In the caption accompanying the photo, Falwell wrote, "More vacation shots. Lots of good friends visited us on the yacht. I promise that's just black water in my glass. It was a prop only."

At the time, Falwell took heat from conservative pundits including "The View's" Meghan McCain, who tweeted, "How is this Jerry Falwell Jr. photo even real? Also if you're running the largest Christian university in America maybe don't put photos of yourself on social media with your pants undone on a yacht - with random women in bad wigs. So gross, so hypocritical."

But Republican politicians have largely remained mum regarding the controversial photo posted by Falwell, who is an ardent supporter of President Donald Trump.

Politico reported that Falwell addressed the controversy on Wednesday during an interview with a radio station in Lynchburg, Virginia, which is his hometown and where the private Evangelical university is located.

"I've apologized to everybody," Falwell told WLNI-FM, "And I've promised my kids I'm going to try to be — I'm going to try to be a good boy from here on out."

Falwell said that the woman he posed with for the photo is his wife's assistant, and that the picture was "just in good fun."

"She's pregnant so she couldn't get her — she couldn't get her pants up," Falwell explained. "And I was like, trying to like — my — I had on a pair of jeans that I hadn't worn in a long time so I couldn't get mine zipped either. And so, I just put my belly out like hers."