WASHINGTON — Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, is going through backlash over a pair of social media posts he shared over the weekend, together with from a few of his colleagues within the Senate.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., “condemned” the language included in Lee’s posts that featured pictures of Vance Luther Boelter, the important thing suspect who was arrested in connection to the shooting of two Minnesota lawmakers ensuing within the demise of 1. Boelter has since been arrested on prices of two counts of homicide and two of tried homicide.
“I’ve condemned what Mike Lee did right here at house, and I’ll converse to him about this once I return” to D.C., Klobuchar, who mentioned she was pals with the victims of the capturing, instructed MSNBC on Monday. “And what I’m going to inform him is, this isn’t humorous what occurred right here.”
Later, Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., instructed CNN she spoke to Lee in particular person and instructed him she thought the submit was “brutal and merciless.”
She added, “I wished him to listen to from me instantly how painful that was and the way brutal that was to see that on what was only a horribly brutal weekend.”
Smith mentioned Lee didn’t say a lot in response, including that he appeared “sort of stunned to be confronted.”
The primary submit Lee shared to X this weekend featured a surveillance picture reportedly of Boelter in a masks and uniform as a strategy to disguise himself as a police officer, in line with regulation enforcement. Lee shared the picture with the caption: “That is what occurs when Marxists don’t get their method.”
Lee later posted the identical picture alongside a headshot of Boelter with the caption: “Nightmare on Waltz Road,” an obvious reference to Gov. Tim Walz, who ran for vp final 12 months, though the title is misspelled.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz pauses as he speaks concerning the killing of state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband on the State Emergency operations Heart in Blaine, Minn., Saturday, June 14, 2025. | Jerry Holt
Lee additionally reposted one other picture of Boelter on X calling Marxism “a lethal psychological sickness.”
Theories about Boelter’s political affiliation started to unfold on social media after it was revealed he was twice appointed to a state financial panel by two Democratic governors, together with Walz. Nonetheless, a person who recognized himself as a detailed buddy and former roommate of Boelter instructed native information shops that Boelter had supported Trump within the 2024 election.
The posts prompted anger on-line, with a number of accounts calling for Lee to apologize or step down. It’s not clear whether or not Klobuchar would push for any punishment for the Utah senator, however mentioned she would have a dialog with him when the Senate reconvenes on Monday.
Timing for that assembly just isn’t clear, and spokespeople for each Klobuchar’s and Lee’s workplaces didn’t reply to requests for remark by the Deseret Information.
In the meantime, Lee’s official authorities account had a unique response to the Minnesota capturing, posting this assertion: “These hateful assaults haven’t any place in Utah, Minnesota, or wherever in America. Please be a part of me in condemning this mindless violence, and praying for the victims and their households.”
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have since referred to as for elevated safety at house, particularly after it was revealed Democratic members of Congress had been among the many 70 names listed in Boelter’s writings that was present in his automobile through the police investigation. Senators are set to be briefed by U.S. Capitol Police on Tuesday morning concerning the incident.
