U.S. Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) pauses while reporters ask questions as he arrives for weekly party policy luncheons on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 17, 2025. REUTERS/Kent Nishimura
Podcaster and NewsNation contributor Chris Cillizza reports Democrats are beginning to lose patience with right-wing voices trying to claim anti-abortion advocate and assassin Vance Boelter was driven to murder by “Marxist” ideology.
"You're a United States Senator. Wake the f--- up,” Cillizza reports Former Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) telling U.S. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah).
Soon after Boelter fatally shot former state House Democrat Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, Lee posted: “This is what happens When Marxists don’t get their way.”
News outlets, including the Minnesota Star-Tribune immediately shot down Lee’s claim, reporting “there is no evidence that Boelter targeted Hortman and [Sen. John Hoffman and his wife] … because of left-wing politics.”
Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) told reporters she personally approached Lee for trying to muddy the water behind Boelter’s motive.
“I wanted him to hear from me directly about how painful that was, and how brutal it was, to see that on what was just a horribly brutal weekend,” Smith said. “He didn’t say a lot, frankly. I think he was a bit stunned.”
A member of Smith’s staff also sent a blistering email to Lee’s office, demanding he show some restraint.
“You exploited the murder of a lifetime public servant and her husband to post some sick burns about Democrats,” the letter said. … Have you absolutely no conscience? No decency? … I pray to God that none of you ever go through anything like this. I pray that Senator Lee and your office begin to see the people you work with in this building as colleagues and human beings.”