Rep. Dave Brat (R-VA) on Monday blamed a staffer for posting a later-deleted photo on his social media accounts in which he appeared to endorse making Hillary Clinton the U.S. ambassador to Libya, an unsubtle reference to the 2012 Benghazi attack.
In the original photo posted Saturday from a gun show in Fredericksburg, Virginia, Brat stood smiling next to a man holding a “Hillary for U.S. Ambassador to Libya” sign.
“Sign says it all,” Brat captioned the photo.
Brat on Saturday said he deleted the post because it “was being misinterpreted.”
“Goal here is informing/sharing, not inflaming,” he tweeted.
How should this have been interpreted? pic.twitter.com/FoOvAVVsen
— Kirsten O'Nell (@ohkirsten) July 2, 2017
U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens was killed during the 2012 Benghazi attack, which occurred when Clinton was secretary of state.
Many conservatives blamed Clinton for the attack and invoked it during the 2016 presidential election as a way to criticize her record.
Brat on Monday told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that he “didn’t vet” the post.
“I’ve got new staffers on board and they’re constantly putting posts up on Facebook and whatever,” he said.
He blamed “crazy left, far-left-land logic” for backlash against the post.
“Who actually is using the vitriolic language? Me or the hard left? And the answer is right now online,” Brat said.
