Utah GOP Sen. Mike Lee is facing a barrage of criticism from both sides of the political spectrum for a post he made on social media suggesting that two Democratic lawmakers in Minnesota were gunned down as a result of “Marxists.
The alleged shooter, Vance Boelter, was taken into custody Tuesday, and is actually a right-wing anti-abortion extremist who has attended rallies in support of Donald Trump.
Despite not having all the facts, Lee took to Twitter and began spinning wild conspiracy theories, HuffPost reports.
“One suggested the suspect, Vance Boelter, was into “Marxism,” despite reports that he was a religious conservative who had attended rallies in support of President Donald Trump.”
“Another post included an image of the suspect in a mask knocking on a victim’s door just before one of the shootings, which left two dead and two injured before Boelter was arrested Sunday night.”
“’Nightmare on Waltz Street,” Lee wrote, likely a reference to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D).'”
When in doubt, it seems Sen. Lee will toss around a lie rather than waiting for the facts, which makes him emblematic of Republicans in the Age of Trump, who is also known to prefer “alternative facts” to reality.
Lee was pilloried on social media for his tone-deaf conspiracy theories.
