CNN
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Republican Sen. Mike Lee on Tuesday deleted a series of inflammatory social media posts from over the weekend on the deadly attacks in Minnesota, prompting a confrontation with one of the state’s Democratic US senators.
Lee provoked controversy when he made a series of posts on 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 on Lee’s X profile. CNN has reached out to Lee’s office for comment.
The Utah senator’s posts — made in the wake of the shootings that targeted Minnesota state representatives and their families, prompting 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.”
Both of the Democratic senators from Minnesota said Tuesday they were glad Lee had deleted the inflammatory social media posts but continued to voice concerns about escalated political rhetoric — and Smith suggested that further apologies were needed.
“I was glad that I had a chance to speak with him directly. I’m also glad that he took those posts down. I have not heard anything from him about whether he regrets doing that,” Smith told reporters, adding she was interested in what he has to say to the families of those shot.
Asked whether Lee had indicated in his conversation with her Monday that he would take down the posts, Smith replied, “No, he did not say. I mean, I think he listened to me; I think he was honestly sort of surprised to be confronted in this way.”
Speaking at a Tuesday news conference with members of her party, Sen. Amy Klobuchar echoed her fellow Minnesota Democrat, saying she was “very glad he took it down.”
Klobuchar and Lee had a “good conversation” Tuesday morning, the Minnesota senator’s office told CNN.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer also weighed in at the news conference, arguing that the violence “didn’t happen by accident,” while criticizing “the kind of rhetoric that we hear some in the hard right use.”
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, without naming Lee.
As CNN reported, the shootings have reignited the long-standing question of how to ensure the safety of 535 US lawmakers and their families with limited resources in an increasingly toxic political environment.
State Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband were killed in the weekend shootings, while state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife were injured.
Authorities are still piecing together evidence on a possible motive, but Walz has said the attack was a “politically motivated assassination.” The suspect had an apparent hit list of nearly 70 targets.
Asked Tuesday by reporters whether she was concerned about her own security in light of shootings, Smith said that “we are at a moment right now where this uptick in political violence and politically motivated attacks is definitely concerning.”
“You probably couldn’t find a senator who hasn’t received some sort of a death threat or certainly serious threat, so the ratcheting up of this hatred and violence is certainly concerning, and I worry about myself and my family and I worry about my colleagues and I worry about my staff in Minnesota in our office there,” she continued.
This story has been updated with additional information.
CNN’s Manu Raju and Alison Main contributed to this report.
