Jun 16, 2025 - Politics & Policy

Tina Smith confronts Mike Lee over "cruel" response to Minnesota shootings

Stef W. Kight

This is Tina Smith and Mike Lee — Sens. Tina Smith and Mike Lee. Photos via Getty Images

Sen. Tina Smith directly confronted Sen. Mike Lee on Monday over the Utah Republican's posts about the shooting of Minnesota lawmakers.

Why it matters: "I needed him to hear from me directly, what impact I think his cruel statement had on me, his colleague," Smith (D-Minn.) told reporters about their conversation.

She declined to share details of Lee's reaction, but said, "I think that he, honestly, he seemed a little surprised to be confronted."

Driving the news: Lee wrote two posts on X over the weekend that featured Vance Luther Boelter, the suspect in Saturday's shootings that killed one Minnesota lawmaker and injured another.

"This is what happens (w)hen Marxists don't get their way," Lee posted.
"Nightmare on Waltz Street," he posted in another.

Boelter's friends described him as religious and conservative, AP reported on Monday.

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Tina Smith confronts Mike Lee over "cruel" response to Minnesota shootings

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