Latest news with #Marxists
Toronto Star
11 hours ago
- Politics
- Toronto Star
The U.S. is a nation with violence in its bloodstream and mocking the freshly murdered is now acceptable
By Star Columnist Americans seem to be holding a terrible contest of their own devising: Who can say the foulest possible thing that violates all previously accepted social norms? Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee won the coveted Very Next Day award by mocking the freshly murdered. His X post 'This is what happens When Marxists (sic) don't get their way' referred to Minnesota State Sen. Melissa Hortman and her husband, both Democrats. The two were slaughtered in their own home allegedly by Christian extremist Vance Boelter choosing his first targets on a list of about 70. Lee included a photo of the alleged killer in an eerie latex mask. Opinion articles are based on the author's interpretations and judgments of facts, data and events. More details
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Sen. Mike Lee takes down controversial X posts after widespread criticism
U.S. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, participates in a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on May 13, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by) Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah took down X posts Tuesday making an apparent connection between Gov. Tim Walz and the man accused of shooting two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses, and blaming 'Marxists' for the murders. The change comes after blowback from Sen. Tina Smith and her staffers as well as Democratic and Republican state representatives. One X post said 'Nightmare on Waltz Street,' with pictures of Boelter, who is accused of killing Minnesota Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, and shooting Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, in the early morning hours of June 14. Boelter also went to the homes of two other state lawmakers that night; one house empty, and at the other, a police officer pulled up to the house shortly after Boelter arrived, so Boelter left. Another post read, 'This is what happens When Marxists don't get their way,' with a picture of Boelter. Misinformation about Boelter's apparent connection to Walz has been circulating online since the murder. Walz reappointed Boelter to the Workforce Development Board after he was originally appointed by Gov. Mark Dayton, but Walz had no personal connection to Boelter. There have also been claims online that Boelter is a leftist, though his roommate told reporters that he is a Trump supporter. The changes to Lee's X feed come after a confrontation between Lee and Smith Monday at the U.S. Capitol. 'I wanted him to hear directly from me about how painful that was and how wrong that was,' Smith told the Star Tribune. Smith, who was a friend of Hortman's, said Lee did not apologize during their conversation. Ed Shelleby, Smith's deputy chief of staff, sent an email to Lee's staff condemning the senator's posts. 'You exploited the murder of a lifetime public servant and her husband to post some sick burns about Democrats. Did you see this as an excellent opportunity to get likes and retweet? Have you absolutely no conscience? No decency?' a copy of the email obtained by Semafor said. Several Minnesota Republicans also condemned Lee's posts. 'I have tremendous respect for Senator Mike Lee, but it doesn't mean he is immune from the base impulses social media incentivizes. People say stupid stuff on the internet all the time. The best they can do is admit they shouldn't have and be better,' Rep. Nolan West, R-Blaine, wrote on X. He later responded to his post saying, 'Respect rescinded.' 'This has nothing to do with Governor Walz,' Rep. Walter Hudson, R-Albertville, posted on X. In separate press conferences Monday, both state and federal officials addressed the misinformation that has been circulating online about the assassination. 'As our community grieves, I encourage those out there seeking to create additional chaos to stop spreading misinformation and conspiracy theories,' Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said. Minnesota Reformer is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Minnesota Reformer maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor J. Patrick Coolican for questions: info@ SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
NBC News
3 days ago
- Politics
- NBC News
Sen. Mike Lee deletes social media posts about the Minnesota shootings after facing criticism
Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, removed posts on his personal X account about Saturday's fatal attack on a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband after he faced fierce backlash from Democrats. Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., who was friends with the slain lawmaker, told reporters Monday that she confronted Lee about his post. 'I needed him to hear from me directly what impact I think his cruel statement had on me, his colleague,' she said. Lee had written in one post about the Saturday assassination of Democratic state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, that 'this is what happens When Marxists don't get their way.' In another, he posted a photo of the suspect and captioned it "Nightmare on Waltz Street," an apparent reference to Democratic Gov. Tim Walz. Several Democrats had called on Lee to take down the posts, which he'd published Saturday and Sunday. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said at a news conference Tuesday that he asked Lee to remove them and that "he wouldn't listen to me." Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., told reporters she also spoke to Lee about his posts, but she declined to divulge details of their conversation. 'Sen. Lee and I had a good discussion, and I'm very glad he took it down,' said Klobuchar, who has a relationship with Lee from years of working together on the Judiciary Committee. Smith said Tuesday she was "glad" the posts were removed, "but I haven't heard anything from him about why he took them down, and I certainly didn't hear an apology." Some of Lee's posts were still visible Tuesday afternoon, including one from Saturday night that said, 'Marxism kills.' On Lee's official Senate X account, his posts struck a different tone. "These hateful attacks have no place in Utah, Minnesota, or anywhere in America. Please join me in condemning this senseless violence, and praying for the victims and their families," he wrote. Prosecutors said the suspect, Vance Boelter, is also responsible for the nonfatal shooting of state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette. Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph Thompson said Boelter's car had notebooks with the names of more than 45 state and federal elected officials, and the federal criminal complaint against him says officials named in the notebooks were 'mostly or all Democrats.' Lee did not answer NBC News' questions about the posts Monday, and his office did not immediately respond to a request for comment about why they were taken down Tuesday. Smith spoke to Lee on Monday and later told reporters she'd felt compelled to confront him about the posts. 'I wanted him to know how much pain that caused me and the other people in my state and I think around the country who think that this was a brutal attack,' Smith told reporters in the Capitol. Smith's deputy chief of staff, Ed Shelleby, also lambasted the posts in an email to Lee's office shared with NBC News. 'Is this how your team measures success? Using the office of US Senator to post not just one but a series of jokes about an assassination—is that a successful day of work on Team Lee?" Shelleby wrote. Dareh Gregorian Dareh Gregorian is a politics reporter for NBC News. Brennan Leach, Sahil Kapur, Gabrielle Khoriaty, Kyle Stewart and Amanda Terkel contributed.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
GOP senator deletes inflammatory social media posts about Minnesota shootings
Republican Sen. Mike Lee on Tuesday deleted a series of inflammatory social media posts from over the weekend on the deadly attacks in Minnesota, prompting a confrontation with one of the state's Democratic US senators. Lee provoked controversy when he made a series of posts on X speculating about the political affiliations of the alleged shooter. In one post he wrote, 'This is what happens when Marxists don't get their way.' And in another he appeared to link the suspect to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, posting: 'Nightmare on Waltz Street.' As of Tuesday afternoon, the posts no longer appeared on Lee's X profile. CNN has reached out to Lee's office for comment. The Utah senator's posts — made in the wake of the shootings that targeted Minnesota state representatives and their families, prompting concerns about lawmaker safety — ignited a firestorm of criticism. And Democratic Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota confronted Lee about his rhetoric on Monday. 'I told him that I thought it was brutal and cruel. He should think about the implications of what he's saying and doing,' Smith said Monday evening. 'It just further fuels this hatred and misinformation.' Both of the Democratic senators from Minnesota said Tuesday they were glad Lee had deleted the inflammatory social media posts but continued to voice concerns about escalated political rhetoric — and Smith suggested that further apologies were needed. 'I was glad that I had a chance to speak with him directly. I'm also glad that he took those posts down. I have not heard anything from him about whether he regrets doing that,' Smith told reporters, adding she was interested in what he has to say to the families of those shot. Asked whether Lee had indicated in his conversation with her Monday that he would take down the posts, Smith replied, 'No, he did not say. I mean, I think he listened to me; I think he was honestly sort of surprised to be confronted in this way.' Speaking at a Tuesday news conference with members of her party, Sen. Amy Klobuchar echoed her fellow Minnesota Democrat, saying she was 'very glad he took it down.' Klobuchar and Lee had a 'good conversation' Tuesday morning, the Minnesota senator's office told CNN. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer also weighed in at the news conference, arguing that the violence 'didn't happen by accident,' while criticizing 'the kind of rhetoric that we hear some in the hard right use.' Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut added to the criticism Tuesday while speaking with reporters on Capitol Hill after a briefing on lawmaker safety. 'I feel that a lot of the MAGA rhetoric is an accelerant to this kind of political violence that is burning and metastasizing in our society. And adding fuel to the fire is really irresponsible on the part of not just people in public life, but people who are members of these fringe groups that are increasingly a threat,' Blumenthal said, without naming Lee. As CNN reported, the shootings have reignited the long-standing question of how to ensure the safety of 535 US lawmakers and their families with limited resources in an increasingly toxic political environment. State Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband were killed in the weekend shootings, while state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife were injured. Authorities are still piecing together evidence on a possible motive, but Walz has said the attack was a 'politically motivated assassination.' The suspect had an apparent hit list of nearly 70 targets. Asked Tuesday by reporters whether she was concerned about her own security in light of shootings, Smith said that 'we are at a moment right now where this uptick in political violence and politically motivated attacks is definitely concerning.' 'You probably couldn't find a senator who hasn't received some sort of a death threat or certainly serious threat, so the ratcheting up of this hatred and violence is certainly concerning, and I worry about myself and my family and I worry about my colleagues and I worry about my staff in Minnesota in our office there,' she continued. This story has been updated with additional information. CNN's Manu Raju and Alison Main contributed to this report.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump and other Republicans mock Democrats after Minnesota lawmaker killings
The Utah senator Mike Lee sounded like a lot of other Republican politicians after the fatal shootings of Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota this weekend. 'These hateful attacks have no place in Utah, Minnesota, or anywhere in America. Please join me in condemning this senseless violence, and praying for the victims and their families,' he wrote on Twitter/X. That was from his official account. On his personal X account, he posted a series of memes concerning the attacks that left former Minnesota state house speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark dead, and state senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette seriously injured. 'This is what happens When Marxists don't get their way,' Lee posted, along with a photo of the alleged gunman, who was arrested on Sunday. He followed that up by posting the photo and writing 'Nightmare on Waltz Street', an apparent misspelling of Tim Walz, the state's Democratic governor who became nationally known last year as Kamala Harris's running mate. Such was the split screen that played out among Republicans after the Saturday morning shootings, which were the latest in a wave of political violence across the United States that has most recently seen two assassination attempts targeting Donald Trump as he campaigned for president, a flamethrower attack on a rally for Israeli hostages in Colorado and a slew of threats targeting judges who have ruled against the US president. While many in the GOP condemned the attacks in Minnesota, others have used it as an opportunity to poke fun at their Democratic opponents, or suggest that they somehow instigated the violence. Experts warn it may be the latter statements that reach the bigger audience. 'I think there's no question that these messages are representative of the modern GOP more so than any stock thoughts and prayers tweet that a staffer puts up,' said Jon Lewis, a research fellow at George Washington University's Program on Extremism. Democrats have been unequivocal in condemning the shootings, as have Congress's top Republicans. 'Such horrific political violence has no place in our society, and every leader must unequivocally condemn it,' said House speaker, Mike Johnson. Senate majority leader, John Thune, said he was 'horrified at the events unfolding in Minnesota' and that 'political violence has no place in our nation'. Minnesota's Republican party condemned the shooting, as did the state's entire congressional delegation. But when it comes to Trump and his most vociferous allies on social media, the message is more mixed. Trump initially condemned the attacks, saying on Saturday: 'Such horrific violence will not be tolerated in the United States of America. God Bless the great people of Minnesota, a truly great place!' But the following day, he struck a different tone, telling ABC News that the shooting was 'a terrible thing' but calling Walz 'a terrible governor' and 'a grossly incompetent person'. 'I may call him, I may call other people too,' he added. On Monday afternoon, Walz's office said Trump had not called. Meanwhile, on X, prominent rightwing figures were quick to promote conspiracy theories about what happened. Elon Musk, the erstwhile Trump sidekick who runs Tesla, shared a tweet from a pro-Trump account that read, in part: 'The left has become a full blown domestic terrorist organization.' 'The far left is murderously violent' Musk wrote in his reply, which Lee shared, adding: 'Fact check: TRUE'. Related: Suspect in shootings of Minnesota lawmakers caught and charged with murder Laura Loomer, the rightwing extremist who is said to have played a role in encouraging Trump to fire national security officials, alleged the suspect had ties to the 'No Kings' protests that took place nationwide on Saturday, and that Walz knew him. The spread of outlandish falsehoods and conspiracy theories on social media has been a hallmark of the atmosphere Trump has brought to US politics over the past decade, and Lewis believes the country is now at a point where such fabrications have more prominence than politicians' carefully written statements. 'The real problem now is that nothing matters, and I think that has been realized by the mainstream right in this country. There are no consequences for peddling disinformation or conspiracies,' he said. Robert Pape, director of the University of Chicago Project on Security and Threats, said that the United States had entered an era of 'violent populism', and if Democrats and Republicans want to stop it, they need to issue joint statements speaking out against atrocities like what happened in Minnesota. 'You've got to start having some agreement here on negotiating these rules of the road, so to speak, because if each side continues to simply only accept unconditional surrender by the other, well, then just like in Ukraine, you're not going to end this thing very, very soon, and things will just escalate,' Pape said.
