'We should be better': GOP senator pressed on CNN over MAGA colleague's post
CNN's Kasie Hunt pressed Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) about a since-deleted tweet shared by Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) that blamed the assassination of Minnesota Democratic state lawmaker Rep. Melissa Hortman on unhappy "Marxists."
"This is what happens when Marxists don’t get their way," Lee's post read.
Hunt asked Lankford whether he feels safe doing his job after the assassination.
"This culture that is growing and the threats that are coming out online...is destabilizing to a nation," Lankford replied. "So, we as a nation have to learn how to be able to speak to each other again."
Hunt pressed Lankford further. "Your colleague, Sen. Mike Lee, posted about this in the immediate aftermath, calling it a 'nightmare on Walz Street,' seeming to refer to the [Minnesota] governor. Do you think that was the right move in the aftermath of this tragedy?"
Lankford responded by saying, "This is not America." He also lauded protesters in Oklahoma who peacefully participated in "No Kings" rallies over the weekend.
"Do you think Senator Lee was wrong to put that up?" Hunt pressed further.
"I've not talked to him about it, but I would say that's not what I'm going to post," Lankford said. "That's not what I'm going to do. I'm going to call it what it is. That's an awful, immoral, illegal act, and we as Americans should be better than that."