Mike Lee confronted by Minnesota colleague over shooting comments

Sen. Mike Lee of Utah was confronted by a Senate colleague Monday over his social media posts that blamed the Minnesota shootings over the weekend that killed a former Democratic legislative leader on "Marxists."

Democratic Sen. Tina Smith, a friend of murdered state Rep. Melissa Hortman, spoke to the Utah Republican in a hallway off the Senate floor during evening votes.

"I wanted him to know how much pain that caused me and the other people in my state, and I think around the country, who think that this was a brutal attack," Smith told reporters afterward. "I don't know whether Senator Lee thought fully through what it was — you have to ask him — but I needed him to hear from me directly what impact I think his cruel statement had on me, his colleague."

Lee on Sunday morning posted two messages on his X account that appeared to associate the perpetrator with political causes on the left. "This is what happens," one said, "When Marxists don’t get their way." Another included a reference to Minnesota's Democratic governor, Tim Walz.

Smith's personal confrontation was among a wave of criticism directed at Lee from Democrats. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Monday demanded he remove the posts and apologize to the victims and their families, calling them "reckless and beneath the dignity of his office."

"For a senator to fan the flames of division with falsities while the killer was still on the loose is deeply irresponsible," he said.

Separately, a top aide to Smith wrote an email to members of Lee's staff lambasting the senator for having "exploited the murder of a lifetime public servant and her husband to post some sick burns about Democrats."

"Using the office of US Senator to post not just one but a series of jokes about an assassination—is that a successful day of work on Team Lee?" Ed Shelleby wrote. "Did you come into the office Monday and feel proud of the work you did over the weekend?"

Lee declined to comment to reporters at the Capitol, and a spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment. Lee's personal X account, @BasedMikeLee, has increasingly become a forum for the senator's sharply partisan and sometimes conspiratorial views.

Authorities have not commented on the motives behind the killings of Hortman and her husband, as well as the shootings of another state lawmaker and his wife. But law enforcement representatives say suspect Vance Boelter targeted exclusively Democratic officials, and friends and former colleagues told the AP that he held "deeply religious and politically conservative views."

Smith and fellow Minnesota Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar both knew Hortman and have said they were dismayed by Lee's X posts. Lee's office separately circulated a more staid statement "condemning this senseless violence, and praying for the victims and their families."

"I think, too often in the Senate, we talk to one another through other people, and I wanted him to hear from me directly about what impact," Smith said after her conversation. "I hope that my talking with him will cause him to think more about the hateful things that he has been putting out on his personal X account that really should have no place in our public discourse."

Asked about Lee's reaction, Smith said, "Honestly, he seemed a little surprised to be confronted."

Lee's Republican colleagues generally declined to criticize him directly for the posts, but several made comments suggesting politicians need to turn the temperature down generally.

“The rhetoric that continues to come from both sides is what steams and stirs the fire," said Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, while Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina said "anything short of condemning [the violence] would be unacceptable to me."

“I’m at a little bit of a loss because I don’t know what Senator Lee said, but I can share with you that a vast majority of us feel terrible about the fact that these lawmakers lost their lives," added Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama said there is "too much rhetoric" but suggested there is little to be done about it.

“You can talk about it all you want, but it’s never going to happen," he said. "I’ve been in sports all my life. Everybody is competitive. They’re always going to push back. Nobody is going to give up."

Mia McCarthy and Meredith Lee Hill contributed to this report.