Mike Lee silent when questioned about Minnesota shootings post
Swarmed by reporters asking him about controversial social media posts appearing to blame the shooting of two Minnesota state lawmakers on the political left, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) kept walking to his car on Monday evening.
Lee, on Sunday, posted on his personal account on the social media platform X that, 'This is what happens when Marxists don't get their way,' along with a photo of the suspected shooter released by the FBI, showing a masked man at the door of a lawmaker's house.
The Utah Republican did not utter a word as he was peppered with questions about the posts on Monday, which have drawn widespread condemnation from his Democratic colleagues. In a video posted to X, an aide attempted to shield Lee from cameras carried by reporters.
Earlier on Monday, Lee was confronted by his colleague Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) over the posts. Smith told reporters that she wanted Lee to hear from her directly 'about how painful that was and how brutal that was to see that on what was just a horrible, brutal weekend.'
She did not say much about his response, only that Lee 'seemed a little surprised to be confronted.'
Lee had also posted the masked man's photo alongside a headshot of Vance Boelter, the 57-year-old suspect, with the text 'Nightmare on Waltz Street,' a reference to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D).
Several hours before Monday interaction with Smith, Lee appeared to double down on his posts in a reply to a tweet by X owner Elon Musk.
'The far left is murderously violent,' Musk posted in response to a post that blamed the political left for the shootings.
'Fact check: TRUE,' Lee replied to Musk's tweet.
Lee's official Senate account on X condemned the violence on Sunday. His controversial social media posts about the shooting were made on his personal account, @BasedMikeLee.
Lee has not released any additional comment on the shootings since.
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