On June 9, as a matter of fact. We know that if there is more than one candidate running as a Democrat or Republican, they have a primary to survive. Graham has two challengers. But he is merrily skipping along and not worrying because Trump endorsed him. That’s potentially a problem because look at what happened in Texas. Trump’s endorsement made Paxton the Republican candidate, and this man is a walking, talking disaster in motion. We don’t know much about Graham’s opponents, but he shouldn’t be thinking he’ll just come out the winner. Now we’ll take a good, hard look at him. Kudos to Raw Story:
Ken Paxton didn’t just beat John Cornyn in Tuesday’s Texas Senate primary — he may have put Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on notice. That was the takeaway on the Charlie Kirk Show Wednesday, where hosts Andrew Kolvet and Blake Neff broke down what Paxton’s crushing victory means for the broader MAGA movement — and which Republican senators should be worried heading into 2026.
Okay, so, a little late on this one, but Lindsay Graham having to run in a primary for his seat is something of note. He’s just strolling along. That’s confidence, the Trump way. With his endorsement, Graham believes everything is wine and roses, so he doesn’t have to worry. It isn’t that easy. Graham apparently thinks his record speaks for itself, but what has he voted yes on of the Trump things that are dragging us down?
Kolvet didn’t mince words when the conversation turned to Graham, who faces a June 9 primary despite holding Trump’s endorsement. “If I’m Lindsey Graham, I am, in the words of Jeremy Carl, sweating bullets today,” Kolvet said, “because the base has an instinct of who actually represents the America First principles that we all ascribe to and espouse. And they can smell a fraud.” Carl is a senior fellow at the Claremont Institute and a former Trump Interior Department official.
It’s definitely possible that a lot of the SC voters have noticed that Graham is a warhawk. The war has made an exponential amount of changes, and not good ones. We don’t want the war, but it appears Graham does. That is not necessarily a good thing. As a matter of fact, it’s a bad one. It’s going to grab Lindsey Graham by the throat and shake him around a bit. This does not mean literally. He needs to pay attention.
Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX), a 119th Congress class member and guest on the show, argued that the Paxton race sent a clear message about what MAGA voters actually want — politicians who fight the same way in private as they do in public. “If you’re going to support the Save America Act but not support a talking filibuster, both publicly and behind closed doors, that’s not good enough anymore,” Gill said. Graham has long struggled to convince the GOP base that his conversion from McCain-style maverick to Trump ally is genuine. He was booed at a Trump rally in his home state, and his job approval sat at 38% among South Carolinians as of late last year.
WHAM. 38% approval rate. That’s rough. Perhaps he *should* be campaigning. That doesn’t exactly do well for him. MAGA can tell what he’s doing, and that is being a slobbering sycophant, a yes-man for Trump, with no mind of his own. It might be “better the devil you know” or “we’ll take a chance on someone else, some new blood”. Mr. Graham should take a long, hard look at himself. Does he have anything worth keeping for the SC voters?
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if he loses and is out of office no one will want to put him on tv anymore. he might implode.
I did a little checking and, aside from Miss Lindsey, there’s not really much about the GOP line-up. Lindsey’s major challenger at the moment is a guy named Mark Lynch (described in the Wiki article on the 2026 SC Senate race as an “appliance repair executive.” What’s interesting, though–and, likely somewhat concerning for Lindsey–is that Lynch has been endorsed by Mike Flynn (we all remember THAT piece of cow dung) as well as a former candidate, Paul Dans (who served briefly in 2020 as Drumpf’s head of the Office of Personnel Management AND is one of the architects of Project 2025). Dans, incidentally, during his campaign, had been endorsed by Tucker Carlson. There are four other candidates for the GOP Senate seat but recent polls don’t really consider them (the four combine for anywhere from 8% to 12% support while the undecided runs between 8% and 23%). Miss Lindsey is currently holding over 50% support from the polls of LIKELY voters–the most recent poll, though, has a 2.9% margin of error and Lindsey’s number in that poll is at 52%. (Looking at that poll–by the GOP-leaning Trafalgar Group–by the numbers, it surveyed 1,125 likely voters. Graham has, as I mentioned, 52% which would translate to 585 voters. Lynch sits at 28% or 315 voters. “Other” candidates have 12% which translates to 135 voters and “Undecided” sits at 8% or 90 voters. But, the margin of error at 2.9% means roughly a swing of 33 voters either way. If I were Miss Lindsey, I would be getting myself ready for a run-off, especially as Lynch seems poised to be the “Real MAGA candidate.”
Thanks for this, Joseph. All of this was just what I was wondering about as I read the piece.