Just hours after the ‘sudden’ death of Sen. Lindsey Graham was announced to the public, MAGA conspiracy theorists began chasing traffic with wild claims about the cause.
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Questions do remain after Graham’s office released an statement Sunday morning that was short on detail.
“On the evening of Saturday, July 11, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham passed away from a brief and sudden illness,” read the 2 a.m. statement. “Senator Graham’s family appreciates prayers at this time and asks for privacy during this incredibly difficult period.”
President Donald Trump has promised to release more information after declaring on Truth Social Sunday morning that Graham “is dead!”
It was later revealed he died Saturday night at George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C. after reportedly suffering chest pains.
These sparse details proved fodder enough for conspiracy theories to thrive on X.
Libertarian talk show host Clint Russell told his nearly 300,000 followers to “get your tinfoil ready” before he suggested, without evidence, that Russia was somehow to blame for Graham’s death in Washington, D.C.
Graham was in Ukraine as recently as Friday for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, reports show.
“I’d say there is a decent chance that Russia blew up Lindsey Graham,” Russell wrote in a comment liked more than a thousand times.
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“Graham is not just the most psychotic booster of Ukraine but he was also the biggest booster for arming Ukraine a decade ago (and likely the Maidan revolution) which really forced Russia to invade,” Russell added. “This -could- be the warning shot to the political class that while Russia doesn’t want WW3 they will extract a cost on the politicians themselves who are pushing for this endless war. It’s now being reported he died of a heart attack. Sure, maybe. Idk.”
MAGA influencer Laura Loomer also blamed Russia but she decided to tell her 1.9 million followers, again without evidence, that it was possible Russia had poisoned Graham with help from Iran.
“There seriously needs to be an investigation,” she wrote in a post liked nearly 10,000 times. “Russia just sent a delegation to Khamenei’s funeral in Tehran where the IRGC and funeral organizers was calling for myself, President Trump and Senator Graham to be assassinated. Lindsey Graham was in Ukraine one day ago calling for a Russian sanctions bill that he claimed the White House supports. Now he is suddenly dead from a random illness according to his staff. Did Russia just murder a US Senator?”
Anthony Galli, a conservative writer with more than 10,000 followers, took this idea and ran with it.
“If Iran was behind Lindsey Graham’s sudden death but we should respond anyway,” he wrote. “President Trump should launch OPERATION LINDSEY GRAHAM. It’s what he would’ve wanted.”
Matt Forney, host of an eponymous video podcast with more than 3,000 followers, was blunt about naming these comments as baseless claims of secret plots — but did not reject them.
“I’m not going to go full conspiracy theorist yet,” he wrote. Responding to video of Graham he added, “But this was two days ago. Lindsey Graham looks pretty spry for a 71-year-old. He certainly doesn’t look sick or frail. Did Russia or Iran assassinate Graham? I don’t think we can rule it out.”
Read more Lindsey Graham dies after ‘brief and sudden illness’
