The death of 71-year-old Senator Lindsey Graham has brought the debate over U.S. foreign policy over the last 25 years or more to the fore: Graham was an unapologetic Cold War warrior who promoted every American military intervention in that time. His support for the use of military force to make things “right” — whether it be imposing democracy in Ukraine and Iraq or ripping down the Islamic regimes in Syria, Libya, or Iran — was steadfast and dogmatic. This drew loyalty from hawks and neoconservatives in the Republican base, but condemnation and endless frustration from the rest of us.
But he was an effective politician who, based on the number of encomiums from Democratic colleagues on Capitol Hill today, knew how to make his case and build capital across the aisle. Much of that happened before he became Donald Trump’s second term right hand foreign policy man and golf partner. That is before he became a liaison for Israel in the White House and counselor to Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv.
Where one stands on these issues is likely to define how one is reacting to Graham’s sudden death today, as my guests Jim Antle (Washington Examiner Executive Editor) and Jack Hunter (politics writer, RS & TAC) point out. He may be hard to pin down. But Graham’s involvement in Washington’s most failed war policies of the 21st Century, including the one we are in right now cannot be denied.
What can be picked apart a bit is how blue the upcoming “Blue Wave” will actually be and how much Trump’s disastrous Iran war will affect voters’ moods and inclinations in November. Antle points out that relatively few seats are up for grabs and while the GOP may very well lose the House, it won’t be in a landslide. However, if the war continues to pummel the economy, abroad and at home, that prognosis could change dramatically. Hunter adds that MAGA voters are getting restless, struggling to understand why Washington needed to launch this expensive and risky war when there are a slew of so-called Trump priorities that have been so-far unfulfilled, at home.
We talk about this, as well as the prospects for a JD Vance-Marco Rubio primary cage match in 2028. Watch for the best insights you’ll hear this summer!
