Utah Sen. Mike Lee's posts about Minnesota shootings reflect online MAGA persona
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Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) speaks on the Capitol steps in 2024. Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images
Mike Lee's inflammatory social media posts about last weekend's deadly political shootings in Minnesota are drawing fresh attention to his years-long MAGA transformation.
Why it matters: Once seen as a buttoned-up conservative, Lee is increasingly positioning himself as an ultra-online, hard-right firebrand in line with the right's most provocative wing.
State of play: Lee's posts, which baselessly ascribed leftist motives to the attacks on Minnesota Democrats, were only the latest to attract scrutiny of his far-right online profile — especially under his personal @BasedMikeLee account on X.
- His activity on the platform has skyrocketed since the beginning of President Trump's second term, with an average of more than 100 posts per day in the first three months of 2025, per an analysis by the Salt Lake Tribune.
What's inside: The posts are largely MAGA red meat, with broad criticism of "leftists," culture war grievances and right-wing conspiracy theories.
- Case in point: A week ago, he called the "No Kings" protesters "Marxist psy ops" funded by China.
By the numbers: Via @BasedMikeLee, he has posted about Marxism 15 times and tagged Elon Musk in 40 posts so far this month.
- As of Tuesday, he had not yet posted the word "Utah."
Neither Lee's office nor Utah GOP chair Robert Axson responded to Axios' requests for comment Tuesday morning.
What they're saying: "This is not normal, regular civic banter, especially for man of his stature in the office that he holds," said Mike Madrid, a veteran Republican political consultant and co-founder of The Lincoln Project. "Something is wrong with him, and I think his family should be concerned."
- "I think the more he has engaged in [inflammatory posts], the easier and more instinctual it's become for him," said Becky Edwards, who challenged Lee in the 2022 primary.
The latest: By Tuesday, Lee had deleted the posts about the Minnesota shooting suspect — though he had initially kept them up even after friends said the suspect was deeply conservative.
The big picture: For years, Lee was seen as an uncompromising yet intellectual conservative.
- As The Atlantic's Tim Alberta recounted last year, Lee tried to modify GOP convention rules to prevent Trump's nomination in 2016. Upon seeing the "Access Hollywood" tape, Lee called on Trump to withdraw from the race.
- "It's as if Ned Flanders became a 4chan troll," Alberta wrote.
Reality check: Lee has always been very conservative.
- In 2010, he unseated Bob Bennett, a powerful, three-term Republican incumbent, in the state GOP convention by running to Bennett's right.
- The upset was widely seen as a bellwether in Utah of the influence of the Tea Party movement, which backed Lee.
Catch up quick: After Trump took office, Lee quickly became one of his most ardent allies and pushed him not to accept defeat in 2020.
- As a MAGA acolyte, he likened Trump to Captain Moroni, a heroic figure in the Book of Mormon.
- "He went from being a respected conservative constitutionalist to sort of this loyalist sycophant for somebody who represents nothing of the values he once held," Madrid told Axios.
Zoom out: University of Cincinnati professor Jeffrey Blevins, an expert in social media and politics, told Axios that Lee likely knows when he's spreading misinformation.
- "He's falling in line with the big political interests now," Blevins said.