Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) deleted his controversial posts about the Minnesota shooting over the weekend after multiple colleagues confronted him and asked him to delete them.

On Sunday, Lee posted, “This is what happens when Marxists don’t get their way,” alongside an alleged photo of Vance Boelter wearing the mask police say he used during the shootings. 

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In a follow-up post, Lee appeared to target Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN), the 2024 Democratic vice presidential nominee, and attempted to link the violence to the Left, writing, “Nightmare on Waltz Street,” with additional images of Boelter.

Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) confronted Lee on Monday evening after his controversial online posts. “He should think about the implications of what he’s saying and doing,” she said. “It just further fuels this hatred and misinformation.”

The Washington Examiner reached out to Lee’s office for comment. The Utah senator declined multiple requests for a response from the Washington Examiner on Monday evening regarding the posts or his conversation with Smith. 

The situation reached a boiling point on Tuesday when Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called on President Donald Trump to intervene and compel Lee to delete his controversial posts about the Minnesota shooting after the Utah senator rebuffed Schumer’s personal request to take them down.

Schumer urged his colleagues to lower the political temperature after Lee downplayed and joked about a series of weekend shootings that authorities say were politically motivated. 

“When political opponents are treated like enemies, when leaders encourage the kind of protest that can lead to violence, it increases that violence. So it’s a responsibility of all leaders, especially President Trump, to not just unequivocally condemn hatred, but to stop the violent and regressive language against political opponents,” Schumer said, speaking to reporters on Tuesday morning.

“I’ll tell you first where he should start, he should demand that Mike Lee take down his disgusting tweet on X about the Minnesota shooting because I asked him to do it yesterday. Well, he wouldn’t listen to me, but he’ll listen to President Trump,” Schumer added.

During a closed-door briefing with law enforcement officials on Tuesday, senators pressed for increased funding to bolster security for elected officials following the deadly shootings. 

“We must take immediate steps to ensure the safety of members, and that includes increased funding for the Capitol Police, and there was agreement in our meeting between Democrats and Republicans that we were to have that increased funding,” Schumer said following the meeting. 

MIKE LEE CONFRONTED BY MINNESOTA COLLEAGUES FOR POSTS ON POLITICAL SHOOTINGS

Schumer said Sens. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Dave McCormick (R-PA) were among those urging increased protection for elected officials. Before the weekend’s deadly shootings and a spike in threats against members of Congress, the Capitol Police had already requested $967.8 million for fiscal 2026, a 22% increase from their fiscal 2024 funding. Now, with lawmakers demanding even greater resources, the agency’s budget could surpass $1 billion for the first time in the near future. 

“The Capitol Hill police have been silent heroes behind the scenes, keeping members safe, but we are seeing a dramatic increase in threats against senators, congressmen, public officials, and throughout America,” Schumer said. “These attacks are not just attacks on individuals, but on democracy, on our way of life, on what we believe in, and they’re an attempt to intimidate people not to do their jobs, not to run for office.”