Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) caved to liberal media pressure regarding his posts about the recent shootings of two Democratic state lawmakers in Minnesota. Was it his best moment? No, but the uproar was beyond manufactured. It was another way for Democrats to get something of a win amid their powerlessness to stop the Trump administration—only unelected, rogue district judges are doing the undemocratic work of placing obstacles in front of the administration.
Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) confronted Lee. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) denounced him. Democrats have exhibited more emotion about Mr. Lee than toward Vance Boelter, the assassin suspect who committed this attack. Lee caved yesterday and deleted the post (via WSJ):
NEW: Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN), who confronted Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) yesterday over his weekend posts on the Minnesota lawmaker shootings, tells @scrippsnews (@fox13 @tmj4) she has "not heard anything from him" since the posts were removed today.
— Nathaniel Reed (@ReedReports) June 17, 2025
WATCH ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/IFssHojTJB
Sen. Mike Lee (R., Utah) removed three social-media posts mocking and blaming leftists in the wake of attacks in Minnesota that left two people killed and two others injured, after he faced backlash from Senate colleagues.
The targeted shootings on Sunday that killed Democratic State Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband and injured State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife heightened security concerns on Capitol Hill and shook Minnesota lawmakers who knew the victims. Lawmakers largely united to condemn the violence—as did Lee on his official social-media profiles. But on his personal @basedmikelee X account, Lee posted several messages connecting the shootings to “Marxists” and Democratic Gov. Tim Walz.
“This is what happens when Marxists don’t get their way,” he posted alongside a photo of the suspect. “Nightmare on Waltz street,” he wrote in another post, an apparent reference to Walz. “Marxism is a deadly mental illness,” he wrote in response to photos of papers reading “No Kings” found in the suspect’s car.
Lee has declined to comment on the matter, but he has faced mounting calls to apologize. Lee has an active social-media presence that doesn’t shy away from controversy or partisan fights, but the messages about Minnesota were out of bounds, many colleagues said.
Sen. Tina Smith (D., Minn.), who was friends with the slain lawmaker and whose name appeared on target lists connected to the suspect, called Lee’s comments “cruel.” She pulled Lee aside at Senate votes Monday evening to confront him. Asked if Lee apologized, Smith said “not really.”
This is a disgraceful and heinous comment, beneath the dignity of a United States Senator.
— Senator Patty Murray (@PattyMurray) June 17, 2025
Completely unhinged, abhorrent, and divorced from reality.
You need to take this down, Senator Lee, and apologize publicly at minimum. https://t.co/YYw4HMKDik
Tina Smith just pulled Mike Lee out of a Republicans-only briefing on their tax-and-spending bill.
— Eleanor Mueller (@Eleanor_Mueller) June 16, 2025
The pair spoke for a couple of minutes before Smith walked away. When I asked what she said to him, she said “let me just gather myself” before rushing back onto the Senate floor. pic.twitter.com/xr68ZRJUwA
Sen. Mike Lee refuses to answer Qs regarding his controversial post in the wake of the MN shootings or his conversation with Sen. Tina Smith over the post. His aide attempted to shield our cameras as we questioned him. pic.twitter.com/y5HTiwe0aQ
— Brennan Leach (@brennanleach) June 16, 2025
Sen. Tina Smith confronted Sen. Mike Lee over his posts after the deadly attack in Minnesota: “I don’t think this is a person who is used to being confronted.” pic.twitter.com/iXN2lJiC6l
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) June 17, 2025
A top staffer to Sen. Tina Smith emailed Sen. Mike Lee’s top staffers on Monday about “how much additional pain you’ve caused on an unspeakably horrific weekend”
— Burgess Everett (@burgessev) June 16, 2025
Full email below pic.twitter.com/0284qGSzCf
And Democrats will never apologize for their incessant heated rhetoric against Trump and the GOP vis-à-vis political violence, so enough with the games here. This party’s approval ratings are in the toilet. They have no power, message, or agenda, so they must whine and throw a tantrum. Lee should’ve known better: when the Democrats demand you do something, don’t do it. Who cares about what they say? Who cares about the media pressure—their power is dying. He could’ve weathered the storm. They weren't the most sensitive posts, but it was nothing compared to the ga-ga reactions the Left had when Luigi Mangione assassinated a healthcare CEO.
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