Sen. Mike Lee Mocked For Bland Newspaper Op-Ed Written In Third Person
Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) is being mocked for an op-ed touting himself in the Salt Lake Tribune that reads like a generic website biography — which it is.
Lee’s independent challenger Evan McMullin wrote a passionate pitch to voters for the paper, complying with what the daily said it asked for.
But Lee’s third-person appeal referred to himself by name and had the tone of “a middle schooler’s book report,” Mediaite wrote. Much of it appears to have been lifted from Lee’s Senate website.
Lee’s campaign told HuffPost on Monday that the “standard bio” it submitted was not intended to be an op-ed. (See the statement below.)
The newspaper initially posted Lee’s byline atop the op-ed, a screen grab showed.
(Photo: Salt Lake Tribune)
But perhaps seeing the absurdity of Mike Lee writing about “Mike Lee,” the newspaper later dropped the author’s name.
“Mike Lee serves as a United States senator representing the state of Utah. Since taking office, Senator Lee has earned a reputation as a principled conservative,” the essay began. “He believes elected officials are responsible for keeping the federal government within its constitutionally limited role.
His respect for the Constitution was instilled early in life by watching his father, Rex E. Lee, argue before the Supreme Court as President Reagan’s Solicitor General. Attending those arguments gave him an up-close understanding of the federal government’s proper role.”
Here’s the op-ed without Lee’s byline, looking like the newspaper wrote it.
(Photo: Salt Lake Tribune)
The newspaper later changed the byline to “By Campaign for Mike Lee” to reflect that Lee’s campaign “submitted the op-ed.” The newspaper said it told the candidates to “briefly make their case for election.”
The Salt Lake Tribune Editorial Board offered candidates for the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives from Utah the opportunity to briefly make their case for election. We shared answers provided by McMullin and Lee. 1/2
— The Salt Lake Tribune (@sltrib) October 17, 2022
The print and e-edition presentation offered appropriate context. The https://t.co/YsNdEEKlA8 presentation did not, and we have updated the byline to reflect that Lee's campaign submitted the op-ed. pic.twitter.com/Z1NkFZalBr
— The Salt Lake Tribune (@sltrib) October 17, 2022
Lee’s submission didn’t seem to fit the newspaper’s offer.
Campaign adviser Matt Lusty told HuffPost in a text:
“The Salt Lake Tribune solicited an essay from the campaign for inclusion in their voter guide. We supplied them with a version of Sen. Lee’s standard bio. Not an OPED. It’s regrettable it was presented as being from Senator Lee.”
People on Twitter couldn’t help but riff. “Mike Lee has quite a high opinion of himself, if he does say so himself,” one user wrote.
I wonder what kind of back room deal Mike Lee had to make to get Mike Lee's endorsement?!? Drain the swamp!
— Michael (@MichaelBGood704) October 17, 2022
At least Trump used weird fake aliases for his autoeroticisms.
— VOTE 🇺🇸 🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊 (@CommittoVote) October 17, 2022
What's bizarre is that Lee's campaign and his Senate office have communications staff -- presumably with relevant skills. Did they draft this for him? Did no one say, "This reads really weird"?
— Bruce Mirken (@BruceMirken) October 17, 2022
#Seinfeldpic.twitter.com/RUXw6RpBDu
— TheValuesVoter (@TheValuesVoter) October 17, 2022
Mike Lee has quite a high opinion of himself, if he does say so himself.
— Ornery1951 (@Ornery1951) October 17, 2022
Mr. Lee, you left out the part about all the ways you enabled and committed sedition.
— Metrowest Neuropsych (@MWNeuropsych) October 17, 2022
My boss always asks me to write my own review, so I write it in third person so it will be easier for him to cut and paste without having to change it. And he makes fun of me for doing that every single time.
— Ken Scott (@foomper) October 17, 2022
He did it for the quotes… “principled conservative“-The Salt Lake Tribune. It will fools some folks into thinking the paper said that.
— Dee (@sapphosboots) October 17, 2022
This article has been updated to include a comment from Lee’s office.
This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.
