WASHINGTON, DC – MAY 13: U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, R-UT, participates in a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on May 13, 2025 in Washington, DC. The Committee met to examining pharmacy benefit managers and competition issues in the prescription drug supply chain. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Utah Sen. Mike Lee is facing criticism from a number of Minnesota politicians after appearing to make a joke about the suspect accused of shooting two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses, claiming it was the result of “Marxism.”
That outcry includes several state Republican lawmakers, who pushed back on Lee’s attempt to connect the alleged shooter to Democrats. The chair of the state’s Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party called Lee “one of the most dishonorable senators in American history.” Minnesota Democratic Sens. Tina Smith and Amy Klobuchar said the joke was inappropriate and “fuels this hatred and misinformation.” U.S. Rep. Kelly Morrison, a Democrat representing the west metro, said Lee’s comments represented “the watershed moment where things need to change.”
Vance Boelter was arrested Sunday night, suspected of the murder of Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, in their home. Charging documents allege Boelter wounded state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, in a separate shooting. Police say Boelter had a “hit list” of dozens Democratic elected officials and abortion clinics. He’s facing several charges, including first-degree murder.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz called the shootings “an act of targeted political violence”; law enforcement cautioned against drawing hasty conclusions about motive during a Sunday briefing.
Lee, who posts frequently on his personal X account, took to social media on Sunday, claiming Boelter has ties to Democrats and liberal politics.
“Nightmare on Waltz Street,” Lee wrote, attempting to connect Boelter to Walz, with his name misspelled. Lee’s post featured two images of Boelter, including one taken from the crime scene.
Boelter was initially appointed to a Workforce Development Council by former Democratic Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton in 2016, then reappointed in 2019 by Walz. Minnesota state government is home to hundreds of nonpartisan boards and commissions, and an appointment often only requires volunteering.
“My plumber is connected to me and my wife. That doesn’t mean we have anything to do with his other activities,” wrote Minnesota state Rep. Walter Hudson, a Republican from Albertville, in a social media post, arguing “this has nothing to do with Governor Walz.”
Lee also made two other posts tying Boelter to “Marxism,” the political philosophy serving as the foundation for communism that’s often used by Trump-aligned conservatives to insult Democrats. That includes a post featuring the same image from the crime scene that read “This is what happens … When Marxists don’t get their way.”
Lee’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.
Lee, a prolific poster, made the comments on Sunday morning around 9 a.m. on his personal account on X, where he is known to be more inflammatory.
Hours later, at 2:30 p.m., Lee posted from his official U.S. Senate account, where he typically takes a more measured tone, writing “These hateful attacks have no place in Utah, Minnesota, or anywhere in America.”
“Please join me in condemning this senseless violence, and praying for the victims and their families,” the post reads.
The Utah senator has since faced widespread backlash for his comments, including calls for his resignation. Critics have pointed out that Boelter was targeting Democrats, that his “hit list” included abortion clinics, and that his roommate told reporters Boelter was a Trump voter.
“Senator Lee’s heinous lies have only made the pain that Melissa’s loved ones and colleagues are going through even worse. Using Melissa’s murder to spread these lies is an act of evil that will cement his legacy as one of the most dishonorable senators in American history,” said Richard Carlbom, chair of the Minnesota DFL, in a statement to Utah News Dispatch.
Smith, the junior Minnesota senator, confronted Lee in Congress on Monday, telling him his comments were “brutal and cruel.”
“He should think about the implications of what he’s saying and doing. It just further fuels this hatred and misinformation,” she said, according to CNN. “I wanted him to hear from me directly how painful that was and how brutal that was to see that on what was just a horribly brutal weekend.”
Smith said Lee “didn’t say a lot. Frankly, I think he was a bit stunned. … He certainly didn’t promise to take it down or say anything publicly about it. … He seemed kind of surprised to be confronted.”
Speaking on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Monday, Klobuchar said she also plans to confront Lee.
“What I’m going to tell him is this isn’t funny what happened here. This is an incredible woman,” she said, adding that “there was no Father’s Day” for Hortman’s children.
“I’ll tell him about the law enforcement that did incredible work here,” Klobuchar continued. “That’s what I’m going to tell Sen. Lee when I get back to Washington today. Because this is not a laughing matter and certainly what we are seeing in increasing violence and this evil man who did this, this is not a joke.”
Morrison, a first term congresswoman, took to X on Monday accusing Lee of promoting “dangerous and harmful rhetoric we need everyone to call out and condemn.”
“This is the watershed moment where things need to change,” Morrison said, urging Democrats and Republicans to condemn Lee’s remarks.
“This was posted one day after my friend — one of Minnesota’s elected representatives — and her husband were assassinated in a politically-motivated attack. One day after another elected representative and his wife took 17 bullets from the assassin,” she said. “We cannot accept this from a sitting United States Senator.”
Minnesota state Rep. Nolan West, a Republican from Blaine, posted to X that he has “tremendous respect” for Lee.
“But it doesn’t mean he is immune from the base impulses social media incentivizes. People say stupid stuff on the internet all the time. The best they can do is admit they shouldn’t have and be better,” he wrote.
Speaking on the Senate floor Monday, Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, of New York, said he was “deeply disappointed” in Lee, accusing him of taking “cheap political shots at the other side.” Lee’s comments, Schumer said, risk “escalating a perilous moment.”
“What the senior senator from Utah posted after the shooting was reckless and beneath the dignity of his office,” Schumer said. “For a senator to fan the flames of division with falsities while the killer was still on the loose is deeply irresponsible. He should take down his post immediately and apologize to the families of the victims.”
Like Minnesota Reformer, Utah News Dispatch is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Utah News Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor McKenzie Romero for questions: info@utahnewsdispatch.com.