Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) directly confronted Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) on Monday over what she called “painful” and “brutal” comments he made following the fatal shooting of a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband.
Just after the Senate began voting Monday evening, Smith walked into a GOP meeting room where Republican senators were gathering to discuss a major tax bill. She wasn’t there to talk taxes. She went straight in, found Lee, and pulled him aside.
They spoke briefly in a hallway. When she emerged, Smith was visibly shaken.
“Let me gather myself,” she said, initially declining to speak to reporters.
Later, she opened up. “I wanted him to hear from me directly,” Smith said. “About how painful that was and how brutal that was to see that on what was just a horrible, brutal weekend.”
She added: “Too often in the Senate we talk to each other through one another and I wanted him to hear it from me directly.”
Asked about Lee’s response, Smith said, “It’s hard for me to characterize exactly what he said. He didn’t say a lot, frankly.” She noted he “seemed a little surprised to be confronted.”
Andddd she found him https://t.co/mXaTYaj1co pic.twitter.com/ugSPoBMnPw
— Al Weaver (@alweaver22) June 16, 2025
Lee sparked outrage with posts on social media after the murder of former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband at their home. The man suspected of killing them is also accused of shooting state Sen. John Hoffman (D) and his wife.
Instead of expressing sympathy, Lee blamed Democrats for the attack — even though the suspect is a far-right Republican who supported Donald Trump and holds extreme views.
“This is what happens When Marxists don’t get their way,” he posted Sunday on X.
He followed that up with another post showing a photo of the suspected shooter, writing: “Nightmare on Waltz Street,” a jab at Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D).
The backlash was immediate.
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) called Lee’s comments “beyond dangerous” and “absolutely unacceptable.”
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), a longtime friend of Hortman, also planned to confront Lee. Speaking to MSNBC, she didn’t hold back: “What I’m going to tell him is: This isn’t funny.”
