Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee on Tuesday deleted a series of inflammatory social media posts from over the weekend in which he reacted to the shooting deaths of Minnesota state representatives, prompting a confrontation with the state’s Democratic US senator.
Lee provoked controversy when he made aseries of postson X speculating about the political affiliations of the alleged shooter. In one post he wrote, “This is what happens when Marxists don’t get their way.” And in another he appeared to link the suspect to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, posting: “Nightmare on Waltz Street.”
As of Tuesday afternoon, the posts no longer appeared onLee’s X profile.CNN has reached out to Lee’s office for comment.
The senator’s posts – made in the wake of the deadly attacks on Minnesota state representatives and their families that have raised concerns about lawmaker safety – ignited a firestorm of criticism. And Democratic Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota confronted Lee about his rhetoric on Monday.
“I told him that I thought it was brutal and cruel. He should think about the implications of what he’s saying and doing,” Smith said Monday evening. “It just further fuels this hatred and misinformation.”
Smith said at the time that she had wanted Lee “to hear from me directly how painful that was and how brutal that was to see that on what was just a horribly brutal weekend.”
CNN has reached out to Smith for comment.
Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota also criticized Lee’s posts on Monday, telling MSNBC that morning: “I have condemned what Mike Lee did here at home, and I will speak to him about this when I return [to Washington] and what I’m going to tell him is, you know, this isn’t funny what happened here.”
Klobuchar and Lee had a “good conversation” Tuesday morning and she’s glad he took the post down, the Minnesota senator’s office told CNN.
Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut added to the criticism Tuesday while speaking with reporters on Capitol Hill after a briefing on lawmaker safety.
“I feel that a lot of the MAGA rhetoric is an accelerant to this kind of political violence that is burning and metastasizing in our society. And adding fuel to the fire is really irresponsible on the part of not just people in public life, but people who are members of these fringe groups that are increasingly a threat,” Blumenthal said.
Blumenthal avoided chastising Lee by name, saying: “I really think that the problem is much broader than any single public official. And I feel that a lot of the MAGA rhetoric which is so threatening, or other kinds of fuel to the fire is – a real clear and present danger.”
CNN’s Manu Raju and Alison Main contributed to this report.