GOP lawmakers 'reply all' to defend Rep. Trevor Lee's comments about congressional candidate

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Republican lawmakers defended Rep. Trevor Lee in an email chain including two KSL journalists after a constituent requested his censure.
Lee's comments on Democrat Liban Mohamed's video sparked criticism online
Sen. Derrin Owens and others questioned evidence of racism while Lee denied bigotry allegations.

SALT LAKE CITY — Several Republican lawmakers defended Utah state Rep. Trevor Lee in a series of emails after a constituent wrote to them asking the Legislature to censure the Layton Republican for comments he made online.

Last week, Lee responded to a campaign video from Democrat Liban Mohamed, who's running in Utah's newly-drawn 1st Congressional District. Mohamed was born in Utah to Somali immigrant parents.

In a post on X, Lee wrote, in part: "This is what happens when past policies to incentives (sic) foreigners and not protect your culture run unchecked."

Mohamed's video also received a slew of racist responses online, which drew condemnation from Democrats in Utah.

After KSL reported on the video and the ensuing comments, a constituent sent a group email on Jan. 7 to all 104 members of the Legislature asking them to condemn Lee, along with a link to the KSL story. The constituent, Chad Iverson of Salt Lake County, also included two KSL reporters in the email chain.

Iverson asked that lawmakers censure Lee as they did in 2024 to former Utah State School Board member Natalie Cline for using social media to bully a child.

"Do the right thing," Iverson wrote, "and stand up against Trevor's ugly, vile bigotry and racism."

Over the next several days, a handful of Republican lawmakers responded to Iverson by replying to all original recipients of the email to defend Lee.

Sen. Derrin Owens, R-Fountain Green, responded to Iverson on Sunday, saying he doesn't "follow social media sites for reasons like this."

"What 'Exactly' is Trevor saying that indicates he should be censured?" the senator asked. "What are the words he used that showed blatant racism and bigotry? You are calling all of us to action, but I need to see some concrete evidence that Trevor severely crossed the line. Please help me with what you have witnessed???"

Rep. Troy Shelley, R-Ephraim, responded on Tuesday but seemed confused about Iverson's reason for writing, referring several times to Lee's "bill." The KSL article about the Mohamed campaign video – and Iverson's email about it – did not make mention of any bill.

"Silencing the voice of a representative because a person does not agree with their viewpoint is common practice in third-world countries," Shelley wrote.

Rep. Nicholeen Peck, R-Tooele, also chimed in, writing that Lee "tells his true thoughts instead of hiding behind the fear of displeasing someone."

"That is a powerful characteristic of an elected leader," Peck wrote. "Even if I don't agree with someone, I'm always glad when they are honest enough to share their real thoughts."

Sen. John Johnson, R-North Ogden, told Iverson he takes "allegations of racism and bigotry seriously" but that legislative censure would require "clear evidence of ethics violations or misconduct."

"Representative Lee's constituents were aware of his record when they re-elected him. If they believe his conduct is disqualifying, they can replace him at the ballot box," he wrote. "Mass-emailing the entire Legislature and members of the media to demand censure is not a substitute for evidence or due process."

No lawmaker replied to the group to denounce Lee, but Sen. Nate Blouin, D-Millcreek, who's also running for Congress in the first district, mentioned the whole email exchange on social media.

"In case you're wondering what @UtahGOP legislators are worried about right now, it's not air quality, it's not ICE cracking down on our community ... it's defending Rep. Trevor Lee on a reply-all email chain from a constituent who expressed anger over Lee's racism & homophobia," Blouin wrote on X.

Asked for comment Tuesday on the concerns Iverson expressed to lawmakers, Lee pushed back.

"The accusation that my posts represent 'bigotry and racism' is completely unfounded and disappointing," Lee said in a statement. "My comments have always focused on policy – specifically, the need to enforce our nation's immigration laws consistently, protect American culture and sovereignty, and ensure that progressive platforms (like those promoted by Mr. Mohamed) align with the values most Utahns hold dear."

Legislature Email Exchange Regarding Rep. Trevor Lee by Bridger Beal-Cvetko

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The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.