(WASHINGTON) — Republican Sen. Mike Lee deleted his controversial social media posts about the assassination of a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband after several people criticized the Utah Republican for his comments.
On Sunday night — a day after a masked gunman disguised as a police officer shot and killed Democratic State Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark at their Minnesota home — Lee made posts referencing the attack and featuring images of Vance Boelter, the suspect in the shooting.
The first post was captioned “This is what happens When Marxists don’t get their way” and the second says “Nightmare on Waltz street,” seemingly blaming Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz for the shootings — which the governor called an “act of targeted political violence.” The posts were deleted from his account Tuesday afternoon.
During a press conference at the Capitol Tuesday, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar said she spoke with Lee — but didn’t explicitly say whether he removed the posts because she asked him to.
“Senator Lee and I had a good discussion, and I’m very glad he took it down,” Klobuchar said of the posts.
The Minnesota Democrat declined to provide specific details on her discussion with Lee.
“I told him what I’ve said publicly — that this isn’t one bit funny for my state. They spent the weekend, many of them, locked in their homes in certain areas, depending on where they thought that the murderer went,” Klobuchar said.
Lee, during a brief conversation with reporters on Tuesday, also acknowledged he had a “quick” conversation with Klobuchar.
Lee’s posts prompted immediate backlash from Democrats who condemned Lee for making them.
“To attempt to politicize this tragedy is absolutely unacceptable. This rhetoric from elected officials is beyond dangerous and incites even more violence,” Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin said on the Senate floor Monday. “It is reprehensible, and it must be called out — on both sides of the aisle — both sides of the aisle. Because in the land of the free and the home of the brave, everyone should feel safe expressing their political views — and we must never do so in a way that condones violence or intimidation.”
Democratic Rep. Hillary Scholten criticized Lee’s posts during an interview on ABC News Live Tuesday: “Shame, shame on you, senator. You know better than that.”
“I also hope that my Republican colleagues in the House and the Senate will condemn these actions,” Scholten said, later adding, “We need to come together, regardless of party, when this type of violence raises its head and condemn it in the strongest possible terms.”
Former RNC Chair Michael Steele told Lee to “grow the hell up” in a post on X.
Leaving a meeting at the Capitol Monday night, Lee ignored questions from reporters about the posts.
ABC News has reached out to his office for comment.
The attacks have prompted swift condemnation from Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill and around the country — with many urging elected officials to turn down heated rhetoric.
Klobuchar has condemned the “horrible attack” and said on Sunday that “this is a very bad environment, and we need to bring the tone down.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson said “such horrific political violence has no place in our society, and every leader must unequivocally condemn it.”
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