Conservative tears apart MAGA senator: 'Does he not have any smart friends?'

Sen. Mike Lee, a heavily MAGA-aligned Utah Republican, has been leading the charge for President Donald Trump's efforts to overhaul the voting process ahead of the midterms. On Monday, however, one of his latest posts about the issue saw him get ripped to shreds by a fellow conservative, who wondered if the senator has "any smart friends" to question his statements.

Among the Trump administration's election meddling tactics has been to demand complete voter rolls from each state, with the stated purpose being to audit them for unlawfully registered voters, as part of the president's long-debunked claims that non-citizens are committing widespread voter fraud. Numerous states, including some led by Republicans, have been sued by the Department of Justice for refusing to comply.

Critics of Trump's fraud claims have argued that non-citizen voting is "virtually nonexistent," as safeguards are already in place to prevent it. Some have also warned that the administration might abuse its access to voter rolls to target lawful voters in heavily Democratic areas.

On Sunday, Lee took to X with a post lambasting blue states for not complying with the administration's demands.

"DHS: 'Hey states, send us your voter-registration data and we’ll help you identify noncitizens who may have registered,'" Lee wrote. "Red States: 'Great; will do!' Blue States: 'No." DHS: 'Why?' Blue States: 'Umm … noncitizens don’t vote, you’re racist, January 6th … and climate change." This is why we need the SAVE America Act."

Stephen Richer is a former voting official from Arizona's Maricopa County and a current legal fellow for the prominent libertarian think-tank, the Cato Institute. In a post to X from Monday, he ripped into Lee's post, breaking down at least seven faults with his post, including the faulty facts about how red and blue states have reacted to voter roll demands.

"I know a lot of you tell me not to bother with [Mike Lee] because being an a-factual hack on this platform is his shtick," Richer wrote. "But I can’t stop caring because I hold/held his family in such high regard (dad, brother). So: 1) only 12 states have given up the full voter registration database. 2) Georgia, Kentucky, Oklahoma, West Virginia, and Senator Lee’s home state, Utah, are among the states the DOJ has sued for refusing to give up the full voter registration database. 3) The DOJ has sued 29 states so far. In cases with rulings on a motion to dismiss, the states have won every ruling so far."

He continued: "4) I suspect the states will go 29-0, or 28-1 (just to be safe), on these lawsuits. 5) Senator Lee is a very smart attorney, and he undoubtedly has smart area-specific attorneys at his disposal, and he can easily handicap these lawsuits accurately. 6) throwing in Jan 6 as if it’s just liberal claptrap like climate change (which I’ll admit, I’m somewhat sympathetic to as a policy, not factual, matter) is really something. 7) does he not have any smart friends who ask him why his social media account always plays to the lowest common denominator on here?"

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