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.

Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah took down X posts Tuesday making an apparent connection between Gov. Tim Walz and the man accused of shooting two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses, and blaming “Marxists” for the murders.

Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) confronted Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) on Monday evening after his controversial online posts about the political assassination and attempted murder of Minnesota state lawmakers. Lee downplayed and joked about what authorities say were politically motivated shootings over the weekend by Vance Boelter,