Utah senatorMike Lee has prompted backlash after suggesting that Donald Trump deserves a “mulligan” for his speech that incited his supporters to march on the Capitol.
In an appearance on Fox News on Tuesday, Mr Lee was asked whether there was a “double standard” between comments made by Democrats encouraging their backers to confront Republicans.
“It's not different, these are outgrowths of the same natural impulse that exist from time to time among anyone in this business and in many other businesses,” he said.
“Look, everyone makes mistakes, everyone is entitled to a mulligan once in a while,” he added, hours before Mr Trump’s second impeachment trial began in the Senate.
“And I would hope — I would expect that each of those individuals would take a mulligan on each of those statements.”
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A mulligan, a term often used in golf, refers to an informal chance at a second shot due to an initial blunder, without incurring any penalty on the official scorecard.
The senator's remarks prompted a backlash on social media, with some users referring to the clip “beyond parody” and “absurd.”
Five people died as a result of the riot at the US Capitol on 6 January, violence including one Capitol Police officer.
Supporters marched to the Capitol following encouragement from the former president, who told them to “show strength” and fight for him at a "Save America" rally beforehand.
Jaime Harrison, the new chairman of the Democratic National Committee, posted an angry reaction to the comments on Twitter.
"Mulligan?! Several died. Hundreds injured. Threats were made to murder the Vice President of the US and the Speaker of the House. Our nation’s Capitol Building was desecrated," he said.
He added: "Senator this is not a damn golf game!"
Editor-at-large at The Daily Beast Molly Jong-Fast asked: “Is Trump getting a mulligan for killing hundreds of thousands of people with the 'ignoring a pandemic thing' or with the 'encouraging the armed insurrection' thing?”
“‘A mulligan’ - please tell my neighbors the screaming they hear is nothing to be concerned about, I'm just listening to an elected official rationalizing an insurrection,” research fellow Chris Watts commented.
The senator took to Twitter in the wake of the backlash to clarify his comments, saying he was only referring to the Democratic politicians shown in the clip, not Mr Trump.
“To be perfectly clear, my reference to taking a ‘mulligan’ was not referring to Trump, but to Democratic politicians whose inflammatory comments had just been played for me on the air," he said.
The senator added: “I used the term only to avoid needlessly inflaming partisan passions.”
None of the Democrats’ statements aired by Fox News resulted in violence, The New York Times reported.
The comments came hours before the former president’s historical second impeachment trial was due to begin on Tuesday, with Mr Trump accused by the House of “incitement to insurrection."
Later the same day the senate ruled that the impeachment of a former president no longer in office was constitutional, allowing full proceedings to begin on Wednesday.
