Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) on Monday deleted a tweet in which he tried out a new line of logic to defend the use of masks by federal agents.
Lee, a staunch ally of President Donald Trump who often uses his social media accounts to troll, shared a video of armed Mexican cartel members setting fire to a gas station. At least one of them was wearing a full head mask, and Lee used it to draw parallels to the widely criticized masks worn by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal agents as they conduct raids targeting migrants.
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“Cartel hitmen wear masks,” he wrote on Sunday. “Leftists aren’t complaining.”
By Monday, the tweet was gone.
AP Photo/Adam Gray
Lee, who deleted a series of sickening messages about a double homicide in Minnesota last year, did not explain on social media why he deleted the mask post. But the message had the opposite effect of the point he was trying to make, as at least three of his fellow members of the Senate quickly pointed out.
“Oh dear Mike. I literally couldn’t make our argument better than you do,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) wrote in response. “The bad guys wear masks. The good guys don’t.”
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“Yes. Cartel hitmen wear masks,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) wrote on X. “That’s why ICE shouldn’t.”
“Mike, I would like ICE to have the same standards as a local police department, not cartel hitmen,” Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) wrote.
Others also fired back at Lee:
— Tim Miller (@Timodc) February 22, 2026
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yes i oppose mask wearing cartel hitmen. They should be arrested. I also don’t think American federal law enforcement should imitate mexican criminals. https://t.co/n91bx4G2Pq
— Tim Miller (@Timodc) February 22, 2026
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— Timothy Sandefur (@TimothySandefur) February 22, 2026
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This is amazing. I guess what he’s saying is, “It’s okay for the federal government to engage in masked thuggery because after all, Mexican drug cartels do so.”
A true masterpiece in today’s popular “two wrongs make a right” genre. https://t.co/R12MdiyHdS
— Timothy Sandefur (@TimothySandefur) February 22, 2026
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— JoeyBoatwater (@JBoatwater) February 23, 2026
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Thank you for comparing ICE to the cartel. That is a perfect analogy for the ruthless unlawful gang going around kidnapping and killing Americans. Now ask yourself why you support a cartel like gang run by our own government? #abolishICE https://t.co/eekv1VNGmH
— JoeyBoatwater (@JBoatwater) February 23, 2026
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Mike Lee comparing the mask wearing of ICE and the Cartel was not quite the slam dunk he thought it would be…
— Jeff Biesinger (@JeffBiesinger) February 24, 2026
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