Well, folks, hell just froze over—Lindsey Graham is backing three of Trump’s most controversial nominees.
Yes, you read that right. The same Lindsey Graham who has spent years carefully walking the tightrope between the Republican establishment and the MAGA movement has now come out in full support of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kash Patel for FBI Director, and Tulsi Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence.
Now, if you’re thinking this doesn’t sound like the Lindsey Graham we know, you’re not alone. Just weeks ago, he was skeptical about Trump’s picks, and at one point, it seemed like he might actually help tank Gabbard’s nomination over her stance on government surveillance.
But here we are.
Gabbard has arguably been the most controversial of Trump’s picks, with critics hammering her 2017 meeting with Syria’s Bashar al-Assad and her past skepticism of U.S. interventionist foreign policy. Even some Republican hawks had their doubts about her willingness to go after America’s adversaries aggressively.
And Graham? Well, he wasn’t exactly sold at first. His big hang-up? Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which allows U.S. intelligence agencies to monitor foreign nationals abroad for potential security threats.
At first, it seemed like Graham was on the fence, but after Gabbard reassured lawmakers that she supported 702, he flipped.
“I’ve actually served in a Reserve unit with Tulsi. I’ve always liked her. I think a lot of her criticism against her has been really mean and off-base,” Graham told Fox News host Shannon Bream. “She’s shown her understanding of how vital 702 is.”
That’s all it took.
Next up? Kash Patel, the man Trump has tapped to clean house at the FBI.
If you’re not familiar with Patel, here’s all you need to know: He’s been one of the loudest voices exposing the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation—the now-discredited probe that tried to tie Trump to Russia in 2016.
Graham, who has long criticized the FBI’s handling of that case, is fully on board with Patel’s nomination.
“He knocked it out of the park,” Graham said after Patel’s Senate hearing. “He’s going to go in and clean the FBI out to make sure it’s never abused like it was in the past.”
And folks, that’s exactly what terrifies Democrats and the media—because if Patel gets confirmed, the FBI’s cozy relationship with the deep state is about to be put on notice.
Now, if Graham’s backing of Gabbard and Patel was surprising, his support for RFK Jr. might be the biggest shocker of them all.
RFK Jr. has spent his entire career as an outsider, with a reputation for questioning the medical establishment and taking unpopular stances on issues like vaccines and Big Pharma. His nomination to run Health and Human Services is nothing short of a political earthquake.
The big question mark? Abortion.
Kennedy has personally identified as pro-choice, which made a lot of conservatives nervous about whether he’d follow through on Trump’s pro-life agenda. Graham, however, says he’s satisfied with RFK Jr.’s commitment to upholding the policies that matter to conservatives—including the Mexico City Policy, which prevents U.S. foreign aid from funding abortion.
“I am now OK supporting RFK Jr. because I think during the course of the hearing, he’s committed to a Republican pro-life agenda, President Trump’s pro-life agenda, Mexico City policy dealing with chemical abortions,” Graham said.
That said, he didn’t give Kennedy a blank check, adding that he’d be watching closely to make sure he doesn’t stray from Trump’s policies.