Shit just got real.

Hatch: Lee Has Time To ‘Show He’s Worthy Of Being Re-Elected’

Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) on Tuesday would not endorse Utah’s junior senator and tea party member Mike Lee for re-election, maintaining that Lee needs to prove himself first.

“I think Sen. Lee has plenty of time to reach out to fellow Utahns and to show he’s worthy of being re-elected,” Hatch told the Deseret News. “The best thing to do is do the job, really work hard, (and) stay away from extremes unless you’re absolutely sure you’re right.”

He criticized Lee’s approach to rollback Obamacare by forcing a government shutdown.

“The tactics were not the right tactics. It takes experience sometimes to make sure you can use the right tactics,” Hatch said of Lee’s attempts to attach language defunding Obamacare to a continuing resolution funding the government.

Hatch added that Lee and other Tea Party Republicans need to be “rehabilitated” after the government shutdown.