Utah Sen. Mike Lee criticism grows nationally over apparent joke about Minnesota murder suspect

SALT LAKE CITY — Backlash has continued to swell over comments that Utah Sen. Mike Lee made on social media — apparently a joke about the man accused of assassinating a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband. The outrage has now garnered national attention, with some people demanding he apologize. Lee avoided questions from reporters in Washington over his now-deleted post on the platform X. The post showed photos of the suspected killer and referenced the state's governor with the caption "Nightmare on Waltz Street." "Do you regret your tweet?" asked an NBC reporter, while following him out of a meeting in Washington D.C. "Do you stand by the post that you made on X?""And by the way he didn't just post that — he pinned that," said Comedian Jon Stewart on The Daily Show. Lee's fellow members of the U.S. Senate did not take kindly to the apparent joke. "What the senior senator from Utah posted after the shooting was reckless and beneath the dignity of his office," said U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. "What he needs to do is he needs to apologize," said Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minnesota. "I really think that he should take that post down." Smith said she confronted Lee about it face to face. "I went to him and I said, you know, your message on social media showed the image of the man who killed my friend," Smith said.

Tina Smith just pulled Mike Lee out of a Republicans-only briefing on their tax-and-spending bill. 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 — Eleanor Mueller (@Eleanor_Mueller) June 16, 2025

The suspect, Vance Boelter, was arrested Sunday following the largest manhunt in Minnesota history. In all, he allegedly shot and killed former Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband in their home, and injured another lawmaker and his wife. "This isn't funny what happened her," said Sen. Amy Klobuchar D-Minnesota. "This is an incredible woman, her husband, her two kids, yesterday on Father's Day, there was no Father's Day for them." KSL has requested comment or clarification on the meaning behind the posts from Lee, but a spokesperson did not respond.

Contributing: Mary Culbertson, KSL TV

Related topics