MAGA Right is Consumed by Conspiracy Theories About Lindsey Graham's Death | MAGA Mondays

Summary

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Episode Overview

Title: MAGA Right is Consumed by Conspiracy Theories About Lindsey Graham's Death
Podcast: The Bulwark
Date: July 13, 2026
Hosts: Sam Stein & Will Sommer

This episode dives into the right-wing Internet’s rapid, conspiracy-laden reaction to the sudden death of Senator Lindsey Graham, as well as parallel suspicions swirling around Mitch McConnell's absence due to illness. The hosts examine why conspiracies immediately fill the vacuum of information surrounding high-profile political figures, analyze how official statements sometimes encourage speculation, and discuss how technology like AI deepens distrust. The episode also briefly touches on MAGA-world’s inner fractures and some peripheral political dramas.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Rush to Conspiracy: Lindsey Graham’s Death

• [00:01–05:57]
  • The news of Sen. Lindsey Graham’s sudden death was instantly seized upon by conspiracy theorists, particularly in MAGA circles.
  • Baseless speculations included assassination theories—mainly that Russia was involved, supposedly tied to Graham’s recent trip to Ukraine and a drone factory explosion there.
  • The most widely shared conspiracy: “There’s no way a 71-year-old man could die suddenly from natural causes; it must be sinister.”
  • These reactions are compared to those after the deaths of public figures like Antonin Scalia and George H.W. Bush, where similar conspiratorial thinking prevailed.
• Memorable Quote:
  • “People start saying there’s no way a 71-year-old man who … looks like a normal old guy … could just drop dead of the most common cause of death in America. No, it has to be an assassination.”
    — Will Sommer [00:50]

2. Information Vacuums and Official Responses

• [03:15–06:08]
  • Graham’s office released a statement citing an aortic dissection—a sudden, common, and fatal cardiovascular event—as the cause of death.
  • Despite clear explanations, online right-wing voices and even some within government institutions (notably, FBI Director Kash Patel) framed things in ways that arguably encouraged suspicion.
  • Patel’s condolence message mentioned the FBI "assisting local authorities and has made every resource available," which the hosts criticize as needlessly suggestive.
• Memorable Moment:
  • “When the FBI director is fanning the flames, you know, you’re gonna get a lot of this stuff online.”
    — Sam Stein [05:01]

3. Mainstreaming Conspiracies & Social Media Personalities

• [06:08–09:29]
  • Conspiracy-spreading quickly moved beyond fringe actors.
    • Example: Bill Ackman deleted a speculative tweet about Graham's demeanor in Kiev.
    • “Gunther Eagleman” (an internet persona) questioned if the COVID vaccine killed Graham, despite the absurd time gap.
    • Clint Russell pushed the theory that Russia was behind Graham’s death due to the Ukrainian drone factory explosion.
  • Theories diverged on details but united in rejecting natural causes.
• Memorable Quote:
  • “Damn, the long game that Fauci plays.”
    — Sam Stein (mocking the vaccine theory) [07:53]

4. Conservative Media’s Russia Problem

• [08:25–09:29]
  • The typical right-wing social media environment is often pro-Russia or at least neutral, making the “Russia did it” conspiracy a strange fit.
  • Host observations on how personalities shift narratives depending on broader MAGA priorities—e.g., Laura Loomer aligning with pro-Ukraine rhetoric as Trump’s own position changes.
• Insight:
  • “It’s kind of a square peg in a round hole.”
    — Will Sommer [09:18]

5. Conspiratorial Mindsets & Psychological Comfort

• [09:29–10:33]
  • The hosts discuss why conspiracy theories are comforting:
    • They suggest the universe is ordered, that deaths or tragedies have plot-driven reasons, not randomness.
  • This mindset persists with “everything is connected, nothing is a coincidence.”
• Notable Quote:
  • “It is comforting to believe that the only way a 71-year-old man can die is if he goes to the Ukrainian drone factory and angers Vladimir Putin. Makes you feel better. It feels like you’re not going to drop dead someday.”
    — Will Sommer [10:03]

6. Trump and the Reaction to Graham’s Death

• [10:33–12:44]
  • Donald Trump did not amplify the conspiracy theories; instead, he used the moment to highlight the “Save America Act” and reflect on Graham’s fealty to him, even recalling Graham’s brief Jan. 6th criticism before recanting.
  • Trump’s typical narcissism was evident.
• Memorable Quote:
  • “I give him a 99 instead of a 100… But he did have that one little moment, and it was sort of funny when he goes, did you see it, by the way? ‘I’ve had it now. I’ve had it.’ He was just, you know, too… I was too much for him.”
    — Donald Trump [11:58, Fox clip]

7. The “Successor” Question & MAGA Maneuvering

• [13:37–14:07]
  • Brief discussion of who MAGA rightists might want as Graham’s replacement; so far, no clear favorite, though Rep. Nancy Mace is noted as “not loved.”
  • “Classic race that could become polarized, and probably some money is being passed out as we speak to like MAGA influencers to start saying, ‘this guy’s woke,’ he can’t be the new senator.”
    — Will Sommer [13:45]

8. Mitch McConnell: Health and Proof-of-Life Speculation

• [14:07–20:19]
  • Another parallel: Conspiracies about Mitch McConnell, who’s been hospitalized. His staff posted a “proof of life” photo, showing him with a current newspaper and wife Elaine Chao—designed to quell rumors.
  • Hosts poke fun at the awkward staging of the photo, noting that absence of video or voice fuels further suspicion, given current technology.
  • Claims surface online (Loomer among them) that the photo is AI-altered.
• Notable Quote:
  • “Proof of life, I think they said, you know, if you hold it up, that’s a little, that’s a little Beirute in the 80s, you know, little hostage video.”
    — Will Sommer [15:54]
  • “This AI idea – the idea of the proof of life was AI, that they kind of photoshopped in the COVID of the newspaper – I think is getting a lot of traction. So that’s one to watch.”
    — Will Sommer [20:05]

9. The Effects of AI and Digital Manipulation

• [20:19–21:05]
  • New technologies make it harder to trust images of political figures; people online conduct their own “Zapruder film” analysis, scrutinizing tiny details for signs of deceit or manipulation.
  • Satirical and disinformation-laden AI memes (e.g., McConnell as a “zombie in Thriller”) further blur lines between reality and parody.
• Quote:
  • “It is going to become tougher to tell… the ability to manipulate photos… you gotta, like, you know, have expertise, I suppose.”
    — Sam Stein [20:44]

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Notable Quotes & Moments With Timestamps

• “There’s no way a 71-year-old man who … looks like a normal old guy … could just drop dead of the most common cause of death in America.”
  — Will Sommer [00:50]
• “When the FBI director is fanning the flames, you know, you’re gonna get a lot of this stuff online.”
  — Sam Stein [05:01]
• “Damn, the long game that Fauci plays.”
  — Sam Stein (mocking vaccine conspiracies) [07:53]
• “It is comforting to believe that the only way a 71-year-old man can die is if he goes to the Ukrainian drone factory and angers Vladimir Putin.”
  — Will Sommer [10:03]
• “I give him a 99 instead of a 100… But he did have that one little moment…”
  — Donald Trump (audio clip) [11:58]
• “Proof of life, I think they said, you know, if you hold it up, that’s a little, that’s a little Beirute in the 80s, you know, little hostage video.”
  — Will Sommer [15:54]
• “This AI idea… that they kind of photoshopped in the COVID of the newspaper – I think is getting a lot of traction. So that’s one to watch.”
  — Will Sommer [20:05]

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Episode Structure & Timestamps

1. Opening & Theme Introduction [00:01–00:44]
2. Conspiracies Surrounding Graham’s Death [00:44–06:08]
3. Analysis of Official and Social Responses [06:08–09:29]
4. Why Conspiracies Flourish [09:29–10:33]
5. Trump’s Response & Party Dynamics [10:33–13:10]
6. Succession and MAGA Faction Maneuvering [13:10–14:07]
7. Mitch McConnell’s Absence and Online Theories [14:07–20:19]
8. AI Manipulation and Public Trust [20:19–21:05]
9. Transition to Albanian Resort Story (cut short) [21:05–]

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Tone and Language

The hosts’ language is conversational, irreverent, occasionally sardonic—keen to critique the conspiratorial thinking rampant in online MAGA circles, but also perceptive of its psychological and cultural roots. They blend humor (“We had one bad moment, and that was… the January 6th thing”) with concern about the implications for democracy and information integrity.

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Conclusion

This episode of The Bulwark offers an incisive, sometimes bemused tour through the latest conspiracy storms on the MAGA right, using the deaths and illnesses of senior Republicans as a case study in modern American mistrust, information manipulation, and media ecosystem incentives. The ongoing arms race between reason, rumor, and technology is spotlighted as both urgent—and, at times, darkly comic.

Transcript

[A]

Hey everyone, it's me, Sam Stein, managing out of the book here with Will Sommer. Apologies for coming two minutes late. We like to be punctual, but we just had a lot to work through this morning. The conspiracy theorists are going wild. We have the death of Lindsey Graham, which naturally was not accepted for its logical answer on the Internet. You know, it doesn't seem to think that uh, anything is normal. And then we have Mitch McConnell in the hospital putting out a photo literally with a newspaper in his hand to prove that he is alive on that day. Everyone now on the Internet assumes it's AI generated. Not everyone, but the usual suspects, I should say. Will, is this just the world we live in where.

[B]

Well, you know, I was going to

[A]

say can't, like they can't die or age without people going nuts.

[B]

Today's topic, senators dead and allegedly dead. Yeah, you know, the, it's interesting. I think we're going to dive in here. But you know, it's, it recalls this concept of like, you know, when conspiracy theories, when paranoia runs rife, there's no sense of, you know, things just being coincidental or things just happening naturally. You know, I thought back after this Lindsey Graham thing, people start saying there's no way a 71 year old man who, you know, I don't think looked like, like an ultra marathoner or something, looks like a normal old guy, that he could just drop dead of the most common cause of death in America. No, it has to be an assassination or something like that. Back when QAnon was really running wild, when George H.W. bush was like in his 90s, famously like half dead for several years. When he finally died, they said the only explanation is the military tribunal executed him. There's no other way a reason a guy like this could die. So I, I think that's very similar to what we're looking at today.

[A]

Yeah, I don't know, I mean, I guess part of me wants to think that this has always been the case, right? So obviously JFK assassination, but that was an assassination that was like, you know, literal, like gunman. And so obviously that's going to, you know, spark a ton of conspiracies. The Antonin Scalia case model here is kind of instructive. People sort of this happened obviously last year of Obama's presidency, the Supreme Court vacancy, you know, there's, there's context here. People are assuming motivations. And then there was the, the news that he had been discovered, I guess like with a pillow over his head or something. I don't Know, like that. So everyone just, you know, there were a lot of conspiracies around Scalia. It wasn't rampant like this.

[B]

No, I mean, it was not. Sort of just like by, you know, the time I woke up on Sunday morning and saw that Lindsey Graham had died, I was. I became aware of this because Laura Loomer was saying things like, lindsey Graham was murdered. You know, and I think we should say here they. I would say, like, the dominant conspiracy theory is that Russia did it. I mean, Lindsey Graham was recently in Ukraine. You know, I will say, to give a little shred of credibility to the conspiracy theorists here, you know, know, Vladimir Putin does do crazy stuff. He's maybe the one guy. If you told me this, that, you know, this was the explanation, I say, well, maybe, you know, you know, but at this point, we have no real evidence of that. It would be really crazy. I think, obviously, the more likely things that an old guy, you know, famously, you know, I think if you're an old guy, you travel around, you can get a flight, you can have a kind of a sudden. A sudden death.

[A]

Well, the. In his. His office put out an explanation, and they call it an aortic dissection. I'm not a doctor, but basically, you got bad blood pressure. This happens. There you can see the. The actual statement from the office vis a vis Frank Thorpe. It says, senator Graham's office releases preliminary examination findings from the D.C. medical examiner regarding Graham's death. Says preliminary examination findings were his death was caused by an aortic dissection. It's cardiovascular disease. And this happens. And then if you talk to medical professionals, it is a painful, sudden, very quick death that happens here, I guess.

[C]

I don't know.

[A]

Again, I'm not a doctor. Blood gets into the artery walls. You have to act very quickly. Graham died very suddenly. This happens. So there is an explanation, and yet people don't want to hear it. But I guess the other thing that kind of stands out, and we'll get into some of the. The kooky conspiracy theories in a second. I think the distinction between this and. And past events is that you have people actually inside the government kind of winking and nodding at it. So here's Kash Patel, our FBI director. The first part of the tweet is totally. And it's standard stuff. Senator Lindsey Graham was a devoted public servant, a fierce defender of our nation and a true patriot who dedicated his life to the people of South Carolina and the United States. It's very nice cash. Our prayers are with his family. Loved ones, colleagues, and all those who knew him during his devastating time. That it's genuine. Feels good. The FBI is assisting local authorities and has made every resource necessary, resource available. This is, like, deliberate. Either it's cut and paste from old statements they issued, but. Or it's deliberate, like, hey, there could be some hanky panky here. And that's the difference, is that when the FBI director is fanning the flames, you know, you're gonna get a lot of this stuff online.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

You get that. It is really funny to slip that in and you go, wait, what? Well, you know, in what way are you assisting? Why would you need to assist what investigation?

[A]

What is going on?

[B]

I mean, I think the FBI, I think, was at his house after this. And so it's. It certainly implies that there was foul play or there's reason to suspect foul play. I mean, I know Cash Patel, arch hater Kyle Seraphin was claiming that Cash just copy pasted his usual, like, some things in the news, like, you know, from a mass shoot, shooting or what have you. Just copy, paste that in. We're on scene assisting. I don't know. I mean, I. I do think, you know, as we can talk about here. I mean, there are a lot of people who are just jumping to this idea that, you know, there's no other explanation for why a guy in his 70s would just drop dead.

[A]

Just want to take a moment because people might be listening in on this, being like, why are you guys just, like, so focused on the crazy people? And. And the real news is Lindsey Graham's death. And you should honor the death.

[B]

It's called Mega Monday.

[A]

It is called Maga Mondays. This is a show about the Internet on the right wing. The right wing Internet, I will just say, like, it is. It is unfortunate and a bit tragic that this is just where the conversation veers right away. And it's kind of crazy that you have all congressional offices that have. In this moment where, I mean, these guys all work or these people all worked for Lindsey Graham. Many, probably for many years. And in this moment of, like, tragedy for them, they have to start thinking, okay, wait a second. We have to move fast before things really take root and people start thinking it's foul play. Like, we have to be on our game and make sure that everything is out there in the public, because things can really go off the rails. So to that point, a few of our conspiracy theories here. We got Bill Ackman. He deleted this tweet, I think, but he posted a video or picture of Lindsey Graham, I believe in Kiev, where Bill Ackman, who not so long ago was a serious figure, who like, made a lot of money and was considered a serious human being. This doesn't look like a guy who would die hours later. Okay, you have Gunther Eagleman, which is not his real name, but what is his real name again?

[B]

I'm not sure.

[A]

Okay, he's. That's not his real name.

[B]

He's Gunther to me.

[A]

Yeah, he's Gunther to me too. He's a prolific poster. He posts all the time. Hey, Grok, Did Lindsey Graham get the COVID vaccine? Okay, if he got the COVID vaccine, probably would have been about five, six years ago. Maybe he got the booster. Yeah.

[B]

Drop dead. Five years later.

[A]

Damn the long game that Fauci plays. All right, Clint Russell, Liberty lock pod. Okay, get your tinfoil ready. Thank you for the warning. Clint Graham inspected a drone factory in Ukraine yesterday. Russia blew up that facility today. Then tonight is announced that Graham is dead from a, quote, sudden illness. No more details. I'd say there's a decent chance that Russia blew up Lindsey Graham. No, no, no, no. There's not a decent chance that Russia blew up Lindsey Graham. He got home to the United States. What are we talking about?

[B]

You know, if I could just offer some, some insights on the dynamics of this conspiracy theory in the making here. So what's, what's challenging here is that, you know on what the villain in this conspiracy theory is. Russia, probably. Unless, you know, there's been some like, Lindsay, vaccine. Well, the vaccine or Lindsey Graham was right about to pass the SAVE Act. You know, until, you know, who knows,

[A]

have people done that one?

[B]

There's been a bit of that, that Lindsey was like, we're going to do it. We're going to. Oh, you know, on the other hand, most of the conspiracy weight in the right wing media is pro Russia or neutral Russia. Now, Laura Loomer recently has become, you know, Slava, Ukraine, go Zelensky. Because Trump has become more in favor of Ukraine. But then that's why she's now saying, oh, you know, it was Russia that did it. But people like Candace Owens, Tucker Carlson, the big heavyweights, Ian Carroll, I mean, some of these people were just in Moscow or St. Petersburg, so, So I think it, it, it's kind of a square peg in a round hole.

[A]

Why don't you clear your throat and I'll take it from here. It does create some problems when you're, when you're both simultaneously touting how incredible Russia is and going on their metros. And saying, oh, it's so clean. And then also being like, oh shoot, did they just kill a U.S. senator? But I keep coming back to the possibility that this is just a natural tragic death and people can't, I don't know why they don't want to believe that. I get what you know, I mean, you study people more than I do. Why don't they just want to believe that?

[B]

You know, I think once you're into conspiracy theories, it becomes kind of your, your, the heuristic you use to, to understand the world and you know, with the big line about conspiracy theories is like everything is connected, nothing is a coincidence along those lines. And you know, and I think, look in your heart of hearts, I think deep inside people, it is comforting to believe that the only way a 71 year old man can die is if he goes to the Ukrainian drone factory and angers Vladimir Putin. Makes you feel better. It feels like you're not going to drop dead someday.

[A]

Yeah, I guess so. But these things do happen. The one of the great conspiracists of our time is Donald Trump. And yet Donald Trump has not done any of that in the aftermath of Lindsey Graham's death. Unless I miss something, Trump did call into a bunch of Sunday shows. He's talked about Lindsey Graham, but he hasn't like pushed any like, oh, Russia did this, right?

[B]

Not that I've seen. Although he might be like, you know, we gotta let them build those Patriot missiles in Ukraine, you know, avenge Lindsay.

[A]

He's used the opportunity to push the Save America act so that there's that. But that's more opportunistic stuff. And there's the narcissistic stuff too. I talked a bit about this with Will Salatin yesterday after Trump did his round. But Trump was on the, on the shows again this morning, I guess on Fox. And this is just sort of classically I, I had to play this, even though I don't really like, it doesn't really get into the conspiracies that we're talking about, but it is, it gives you a sense of like the polls that are operating in the Republican Party. There's a conspiracy theorist poll. They're sort of the same man. It's a real tragedy. I can't believe that he died at 71. It's, people should go like, make sure they have, you know, proper diet and that their blood pressure is not off the charts. There's that poll and then there's the like, you know, it's all about me Donald Trump poll, which is Donald Trump. So here's Donald Trump talking about Lindsay Graham on Fox this morning. And you can. You can see why I kind of was tickled by this clip after you.

[C]

We had one bad moment, and that was, you know, the January 6th thing, when he stood up. All right, now I've had it. That's it. I can't do it anymore. Then he called me, like, about 40 minutes later. He said, did I really say that? I can't believe it. And he took it back, which. So I give him a 99 instead of a 100. You know, most people. A lot of people are at 100. But he did have that one little moment, and it was sort of funny when he goes, did you see it, by the way? I've had it now. I've had it. He was just, you know, too. I was too much for him. He said, this is it. I've had it.

[A]

I. I'm just like. To take this time, the day after and be like, yeah, he did have that one moment where he criticized me for January 6th. So I have to ding him a little bit. Unbelievable levels of narcissism.

[B]

Yeah. I mean, it's striking to me. I mean, obviously, here at the Bulwark, people talk a lot about, you know, leaving the Republican Party because he can't stomach Trump or the people who stayed. And it's striking that, you know, Lindsey Graham was very much one of these guys who made an accommodation with Trump and that, you know, after his sudden death, you know, the thing he's remembered for as far as Trump is concerned, is sort of being ridiculed for his one moment of integrity and then going back on it. So, you know, I. I feel like it really kind of typifies the. The Trump experience.

[A]

Oh, yeah, 100%. I mean, that was the accommodation Graham made. And honestly, I think it does kind of fit within the MAGA Monday rubric that January six is sort of the prism through which Trump views a lot of this stuff. And Lindsey veered off the reservation and then came back. And so Trump's cool with it, but anyone else who hasn't come back, you're no good. In Trump's book. Do you have any insight into, like, who people on the maga, right, want to replace Lindsey Graham by any chance, or.

[C]

No.

[B]

You know, it's a little unclear to me at this point. I'm not, you know, the Nancy Mace, you know, is not loved.

[C]

No.

[B]

I was gonna say, I mean, we know she's mulling it, but. But I, you know, I'm not Sure. I, I feel like this, this is kind of a classic race that could become polarized and probably some money is being passed out as we speak to like MAGA influencers to start saying, you know, this guy, this guy's woke, he can't be the new senator. But I, but I don't think at this point really a candidate has emerged.

[A]

Okay, well, that's it for our Lindsay discussion today. We'll have more. Honestly, JVL's running about Lindsay Grim for the Triad for folks to get ready for. I know Will Salton, who kind of wrote the book on Lindsey Graham. He's going to be writing a piece, right. I believe for Press Pass, that's tomorrow. Interesting and complicated legacy. And it's sad to see people hijacking it to, you know, do their stupid conspiracy theorizing. But that's not the only one they're doing it for. We got an Update on Mitch McConnell. If people don't know, Mitch McConnell has been in the hospital for weeks now. He's not in great health. He's 84, so just 13 years older than Lindsey Graham. People had not heard from him or seen him. There was this kind of weird moment a week ago where Scott Jennings on CNN went on and said, I had a 20 minute conversation with Lindsay. And then two senators said the same thing, but no one had heard McConnell's voice. Sorry, I had a 20 minute conversation with Mitch and no one had heard McConnell's voice. And people were wondering like, is Scott Jennings just full of. Yesterday McConnell's staff put out a post. Here you go with McConnell and his wife Elaine Sha, obviously in the hospital in a chair. And there's a lot to pick over in the Post. For starters, he looks, you know, it's, I don't know, not normally that you sit in the hospital in jeans and a shirt like that. Usually you're in scrubs or not scrubs, you're in hospital attire. I was, I mean, the first thing that stood out to me was the newspaper, which obviously was meant to be there. Proof of life. It's the sports section from the Washington Post. It happens to be the sports section the day of. So. Yeah. What do you make of this one?

[B]

Yeah, it's very casual. Proof of life, I think they said, you know, if you hold it up, that's a little, that's a little kind of Beirude in the 80s, you know, little hostage video. But let's just sort of, he's like, you know, by the way, for, for the cognizanti. You might Notice that I'm doing proof of life here. I think as you said, I mean, he's.

[A]

Oh, you, you think you should have held it like this?

[B]

Well, I, I, no, I, I think

[A]

like, like an assassination video. Yeah.

[B]

This is a tasteful, this is a tasteful one. Just saying, you know. And by the way, sports also, I think is also a little more casual with it. You know, like if he was holding up the front page, that feels really like proof of life.

[A]

Yeah, he's been through the paper.

[B]

Oh, I'm just reading about baseball. Oh, but.

[A]

Or is that the front page? I could have been that sports made the front page. I gotta double check that.

[B]

Okay. I believe that's the sports section. I might be wrong.

[A]

I mean, it is obviously a picture from, of sports. It's a baseball player. But I don't, I wonder if they put it on the front page in the comments section. Will know. Okay, go on. Sorry.

[B]

And as you said, it is interesting that he's, he's dressed up, you know, in a. These sort of like grab, grab his clothes so, so we can get him out of the gown. And you know, I, Overall, I think there's a lot of questions about why couldn't they put a video out. It's sort of like, hey, it's me, your friend, Mitch McConnell. So kind of a notes app situation.

[A]

So this is one where you actually do say there might be something more to it than meets the eye.

[B]

I mean, I think probably what's the more to it is that he's probably in such a state that, you know, I think people would be struck if he tried to talk or I think he would probably just come off as feeble. I mean, I, I think it's probably the explanation. I mean, obviously he's feeble. He's been in the hospital for a month, you know, and, and, and I think that's what it is. I mean, I, I know as we'll dive into, I mean, there are those who think there's, there's something more sinister at play.

[A]

The statement said, my doctors have confirmed that I didn't break any bones or suffer a concussion. I didn't have a heart attack or a stroke. I don't have any tumors or hemorrhages. He said he was briefly unconscious or falling. He was taken by emergency responders to the hospital. I believe he did have a bout of pneumonia, but yeah, he had a mild case of pneumonia. It's been a month. And I think we all saw him prior to. Or we saw a video of him prior to going to the hospital. He did not look good. He clearly is not in great health. It does feel like that. You know, I don't think it's AI and we're going to get to that in a second. But obviously, like when you put out just a photo, you know, that's a deliberate choice. Right. You could do a video if you wanted to, or even audio recording. They just did a photo, so there's a reason probably for that. No one's actually heard his voice yet. So we'll see. So, yeah, the naturally people are losing their minds online about this Jason Chaffetz. We're not going to put up that cheap tweet, but Jason James, the ex Congressman, says, let's see you say it. A written statement is far different than saying it on camera. That's, I guess, true. Actually on that case, Loomer recurring character here. She believes it's A.I.

[B]

yeah.

[A]

What do you, what else have you seen?

[B]

It says Mitch McConnell staff appear to have used an AI altered photo. They are never going to recover from this. I mean, you know, look, I think Mitch McConnell's got a lot of haters out there. I think it's pretty clear that they're kind of trying to ride this out, you know, until his term is over. I mean, he says in the statement he's like, look, you know, I'm not exactly hale and hardy, but then again, that's why I'm quitting the Senate. So, you know, come on, give me a couple more months. What, you know, what's the difference?

[A]

He does have four more months until the election. But, you know, he, it's like, you still have to be a senator. He's got some serious votes coming up. There's obviously the Todd Blanche confirmation hearings are coming up. There's government funding at end of September, Save America act if they want to bring it back up. Although I think he was opposed to that. There's a host of different things and he's just not in the Senate. And it appears like that's just not going to be something he's going to do for four more months. But yeah, he doesn't also doesn't have many fans on the right. I think people are, are genuinely disappointed with him in, in the sort of far right movement. So I don't think people are going to rush to defend his honor. Anything else before we get off of the topic of dead or near death

[B]

center dead or near dead senators? No, I, I think, you know, the Loomer thing I think points to something interesting. This AI idea. The idea of the proof of life was AI that they kind of photoshopped in the COVID of the newspaper, I think is getting a lot of traction. So that's one to watch.

[A]

Yeah, I know. AI is definitely, like, complicating these things both in, In. In nefarious and comedic ways. I don't know if you've seen videos of Mitch McConnell as one of the zombies in Thriller. Have you seen that one? No, I think that one's AI but yeah, it's like, you know, it is going to become tougher to tell these. To tell the stuff. Right? Like, it's just like the ability to manipulate photos. I mean, I saw people doing the Pruder film type stuff. They're like, look at the little crack in the wall and the way his finger is holding the paper. And it's just like, you gotta, like, you know, have expertise, I suppose. Now, not saying his. This photo is a. I don't think it is a. I just think they staged it fairly well for him, but yeah. All right, what do you want to talk about next? We have a couple. We have like a good potpourri of things that you love.

[B]

Yes, yes. Well, look, I mean, should we talk about the Albania resort?

[A]

Yes, please. Can you set it up, please?

[B]

Yes. So, long time Maga Monday listeners will remember that Jared and Ivanka Kushner have been trying to build a mega resort in. On some islands in Albania. One of which is an abandoned Cold War submarine base, another of which is a very important Flamingo go wetland.