Minnesota senator confronts colleague for ‘terrible’ post on shooting
By: Theodoric Meyer (The Washington Post)
No Kings, Tina. We have been lectured ad nauseum that all of us have a sacred obligation to respect those who disrespect and disparage the United States, its history, its traditions, its culture, and its people. If Mike Lee wants to peacefully protest then you, Tina, must respect and defend the sanctity of that protest.
So you have lectured, so you must do.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Less than 72 hours after the murder of a state representative, Sen. Tina Smith of Minnesota sat in the Senate chamber, waiting for one of her colleagues.
In a post Sunday, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), appeared to blame the assassination of Smith’s friend, Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman, on the political left. “This is what happens,” Lee wrote in on social media. “When Marxists don’t get their way.”
“It was a terrible thing to do,” Smith said in an interview. “And I wanted him to know how I felt about it — how devastating it was to see.”
Smith, a Democrat, sought out Lee on Monday evening as senators returned to Washington for the first time since the shootings of two Democratic state lawmakers and their spouses over the weekend, which shocked Minnesota and the rest of the country. Hortman and her husband, Mark, were killed.
When Lee poked his head in the door to vote, Smith walked briskly across the chamber and out into the hall and asked where Lee had gone. She said she found him in a nearby room where Senate Republicans were meeting to discuss the latest details of the tax-and-spending bill they are drafting. She asked to talk with him.
“I said, ‘People like you and me don’t talk to each other that much, but this feels like something that we really need to talk about face to face,’” Smith said.
The brief conversation was a remarkable moment at a time of intense partisan antipathy — and a reminder that Republican and Democratic senators are in some ways bound together by growing concern for their safety.
The shooting came less than a year after the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump and at a time of increasing threats against lawmakers. The U.S. Capitol Police last year investigated 9,474 concerning statements and direct threats against members of Congress, their families and their staffs, up from 8,008 in 2023.
“The sad reality is that for senators and other prominent elected officials, receiving threats directed at yourself or directed at your family is unfortunately becoming commonplace,” Smith said. “It’s not unusual. And so everybody, regardless of what party you’re in, can relate to what it means to wake up and find that your name is on a list that somebody wants to kill.”
Lee’s office did not respond to a request for comment. Smith declined to say exactly what Lee told her in response. “I think he listened to what I said,” Smith said. “He indicated that he of course meant no harm. But of course these things do cause harm. They hurt people.”
Vance Boelter, the suspect in the killing of Hortman and her husband, was also charged with shooting state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette. Smith was on a list of names found in one of Boelter’s cars.
The Senate Sergeant at Arms is set to hold a security briefing Tuesday morning for senators. “When something like this happens, it raises the alert, and everybody’s sense of making sure that we’re doing everything we can to protect members,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota) told reporters.
Some senators are already calling for increased security. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota) proposed an amendment in 2023 with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) to allow lawmakers to seek removal of their home addresses and other personal information from online databases, and she said Monday in an interview that the Senate should consider taking it up again. “We have made some major changes that I know the members have found helpful, but clearly we need to do more when it comes to members’ security,” she said.
Many Democratic and Republican senators rushed to denounce the assassinations in the hours after they happened — which made Lee’s posts stand out. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-New York) said Monday that he was “sickened” by Lee’s posts.
“This rhetoric from elected officials is beyond dangerous and incites even more violence,” Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) said Monday on the Senate floor. “It is reprehensible and it must be called out on both sides of the aisle.”
Ed Shelleby, Smith’s deputy chief of staff, also reached out to Lee’s office. “It is important for your office to know how much additional pain you’ve caused on an unspeakably horrific weekend,” he wrote in an email, which was obtained by The Washington Post. “I am not sure what compelled you or your boss to say any of those things, which, in addition to being unconscionable, also may very well be untrue.”
Several senators, including at least one Republican, Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, came over to offer condolences to Smith as she waited on the floor for Lee. “Can I give you a hug?” Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-New Hampshire) asked Smith.
Smith accepted.
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Who does Smith think she is? We're not allowed to be outraged over a peaceful protest. We're not allow to lecture the protesters. We're not allowed to condemn peaceful protests that disrespect and disparage our sacred cows. Doesn't Tina Smith listen to her own political rhetoric?
No Norm, MAGA Mike is being rightly criticized for making a distasteful nasty unfunny joke about Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota being stalked and killed by a MAGA madman.