Mike Lee Did Not Write Op-Ed in Third Person, Newspaper Clarifies

Senator Mike Lee did not write an op-ed in a Utah newspaper that referred to him in the third person, the publication that carried the article has clarified.

Lee had been the target of criticism on social media after the article appeared to show that the Republican was offering an endorsement of himself in the U.S. Senate race in Utah.

A version on the website of The Salt Lake Tribune did not feature a byline early on Monday morning but was later amended to to add "By Campaign for Mike Lee."

"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 the campaign of independent challenger Evan McMullin and Republican incumbent Mike Lee," the newspaper told Newsweek in a statement on Monday.

"The print and e-edition presentation offered appropriate context. The sltrib.com presentation did not, and we have updated the byline to reflect that Lee's campaign submitted the op-ed," the statement said.

The Salt Lake Tribune published the article on Sunday and shared the op-ed on Twitter, attributing it to the Republican senator. The newspaper has also published an article by Lee's opponent, independent candidate Evan McMullin.

Twitter users mocked Lee for the article and some criticized The Salt Lake Tribune for publishing it. Though the newspaper named Lee as the author on Twitter, there was initially no byline for the op-ed on its website.

"Since taking office, Senator Mike Lee has earned a reputation as a principled conservative. He believes elected officials are responsible for keeping the federal government within its constitutionally limited role,' writes Sen. Mike Lee," The Salt Lake Tribune posted on Twitter.

The brief article reads in part like a biography of Lee and discusses his background, education and his father.

"Senator Lee has remained committed to advocating for limited government and fiscal responsibility throughout his career. His work is motivated by a deep reverence for our nation and the values that make it great," the article says.

Aaron Blake, senior political writer for The Washington Post's political analysis blog The Fix, wrote: "The tweet states that the piece is Mike Lee writing about himself in the third person. The piece itself ... contains no byline."

Reed Galen, co-founder of the conservative Lincoln Project, shared the article and wrote: "Well, @SenMikeLee finally got the endorsement of a U.S. Senator from Utah."

Galen was likely referring to the fact that Lee has publicly called for Republican Senator Mitt Romney to support him but Utah's junior senator has not endorsed Lee.

Lincoln Project co-founder Rick Wilson retweeted Galen and added: "Mike Lee LOVES Mike Lee because unless Mike Lee loved Mike Lee no one would tell Mike Lee how much Mike Lee loves Mike Lee."

Josh Marshall, founder of Talking Points Memo, shared The Salt Lake Tribune's tweet and asked if the newspaper was "trolling" Lee.

Marshall added that "this is comical. The instate paper published an oped by mike Lee endorsing himself in the third person? What?"

Matt Mitovich, editor-in-chief at TVLine.com, appeared critical of the newspaper, writing: "@sltrib has yet to detail the terms of this 'op-ed' in which Mike Lee sings his own praises (in the third person). No clear notation if it is advertorial."

The op-ed in The Salt Lake Tribune by Lee's opponent McMullin contains his byline and a description of the independent candidate. McMullin's op-ed is written in the first person and was also published on Sunday.

Newsweek has asked Lee's office for comment.

Lee and McMullin are in an unusual race because there is no Democratic candidate. McMullin, a former Republican and strong critic of former President Donald Trump, is challenging Lee in the deep red state.

Poll tracker FiveThirtyEight rates Lee as "clearly favored" to win the race with a 93 percent chance of success.