ST. PAUL  — Gov. Tim Walz is criticizing a Minnesota Democratic party official for describing a Navy ship as a “murder boat.”

Walz, a Democrat who served in the military, said he was “totally appalled” by a tweet from William Davis, the deputy communications director for the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. In his weekend tweet, Davis called the newly christened USS Minneapolis-St. Paul a “murder boat.”

Davis deleted the tweet Monday after he was sharply criticized, and said he meant no disrespect for soldiers.

He said he was “talking about a weapon of war.”

Walz said the DFL should “take appropriate response” to Davis’s remarks. Ken Martin, the state party chairman, said Davis had deleted his account and would no longer be handling “public-facing communications” for the party.