Utah Republican senator Mike Lee is facing criticism after posting a heartfelt tribute to conservative activist Charlie Kirk, just months after he spread misinformation about the killing of two Democratic lawmakers.
Kirk, 31, the executive director of Turning Point USA, was shot and killed Wednesday during an outdoor event at Utah Valley University. Lee quickly condemned the murder on X, calling it “a cowardly act of violence” and praising Kirk as “an American patriot” and “an inspiration to countless young people.”
He also asked for prayers for Kirk’s widow, Erika, and their children.
“The terrorists will not win,” Lee told a crowd after Kirk’s death was confirmed. “Charlie will.”
While some praised his response, many on social media accused Lee of hypocrisy, pointing to his reaction to a June shooting in Minnesota that left House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, dead, and injured state senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette.
At the time, Lee posted a photo of the suspect, Vance Boelter, on X and wrote, “This is what happens when Marxists don’t get their way.” He later shared another image of Boelter with the caption, “Nightmare on Waltz Street,” a jab at Minnesota’s Democratic governor, Tim Walz, who had briefly appointed Boelter to a volunteer advisory board years earlier.
But Boelter wasn’t a Marxist. Local media reported that he leaned right politically, and records showed he was once registered as a Republican in Oklahoma.
Senator Tina Smith of Minnesota publicly called out Lee’s comments, describing them as “brutal and cruel.” Lee eventually deleted the posts.
This week, as he praised Kirk’s “boundless energy and great love for his country,” many users questioned why Lee showed compassion for Kirk but not for the Hortmans.
“It seems you do know how to respond appropriately to tragedy,” one user wrote. “I wish you would have shown that same respect to Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark.”
Another posted: “I pray for Charlie Kirk’s family. They should not have to go through this. Nor did Melissa or Mark Hortman, right?”
Senator Smith also weighed in on Kirk’s killing, posting her own condemnation nearly an hour before Lee’s tribute.
“Horrific,” she wrote. “We all need to condemn these acts of political violence that are becoming far too commonplace in this country. We can’t continue like this.”
