What A Day - Lindsey Graham's Sister Picked To Complete His Senate Term

Episode Date: July 13, 2026

South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham passed away suddenly on Saturday evening at the age of 71. A preliminary report said he died of an aortic dissection, caused by heart disease. Today, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster announced Graham’s temporary replacement – his younger sister, Darline Graham Nordone. And she has big shoes to fill. Graham was a political lifer. Before winning a seat in the Senate in 2003, he served in the House of Representatives beginning in 1995. And like many Republicans, Graham went from a dedicated opponent of Donald Trump to one of Trump’s most committed partisans. So for more on Graham’s legacy and what happens next, we spoke with Matt Viser a few hours before McMaster’s announcement. Viser is a staff writer at The Atlantic.And in headlines, Trump said the United States is “reinstating” a blockade on Iran in the Strait of Hormuz, Kentucky Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell revealed for the first time that a fall led to his hospitalization, and a federal immigration officer fatally shot a motorist in Maine.Show Notes: Check out Matt's work – theatlantic.com/author/matt-viser/ Call Congress – 202-224-3121 Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/y4y2e9jy What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcast Follow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/ For a transcript of this episode, please email [e-mail]

President Trump's relationship with the Senate Republican caucus is not good. He's at odds with a lot of senators. And Lindsey Graham was one of the conciliatory members who could kind of keep everybody on board. His absence really complicates things with a very small majority for them. I'm Jane Koston, and this is what a day. The show appreciating Fox News host Lawrence Jones's valiant efforts to get President Donald Trump to discuss the late South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham while Trump rants about the California gubernatorial election again.

Can you imagine this is the week after the election that's taking to start to fit? And then I got the U.S. Attorney involved. And they didn't know in two weeks. They let it be known an hour later that Steve Wilson. So Mr. President, real quickly, that you notice anything different from Lindsay on the phone? So these elections are very dishonest. And you can't have a country unless you have it.

really honest elections. Interviewing Trump on TV is like trying to hurt a cat, but also the cat is the president of the United States and a jerk. On today's show, we talk about the impact of Senator Graham's sudden and unexpected passing with the Atlantic's Matt Visor. Before we get into, all that, here's what we're following today, Monday, July 13th. No country has allowed to charge tolls or fees on an international waterway. Sounds like a pretty firm statement from Secretary of State Marco Rubio last month.

right? Wrong. Trump announced today that the U.S. is, quote, reinstating a blockade on Iran in the Strait of Hormuz, and, get this, will charge other ships for safe passage. Well, you tried, Marco. Until now, the U.S. had said the strait should remain open to all without any tolls. Trump wrote in his true social post that the U.S. would be, quote, reimbursed, 20% of the value of cargo to help cover, quote, any and all costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security. You know, the job of helping ships cross a straight they were able to cross like six months ago. After weeks of mounting speculation, Kentucky Republican Senator Mitch McConnell finally gave an update on his hospitalization. The 84-year-old said in a statement on Sunday that he was hospitalized after a fall last month.

He said he was also treated for mild pneumonia while doctors ran tests. The statement was accompanied by a photo of McConnell and would have been. appeared to be a hospital chair with his wife beside him. McConnell, who is retiring at the end of January, explained his four-week silence by saying that, quote, folks of my generation often hesitate to share the vulnerability that comes with growing older. But you are a senator. It's different for you.

He added that he's been moved to a rehab center but isn't ready to return to the Senate floor just yet. When a leak of department information occurs today, it's critical that we provide the Department of Justice and other partners in federal law enforcement, including the FBI, with actionable information as quickly as possible. And that's why the Department of War and the Department of Justice have created a joint task force to identify and prosecute leakers. Defense Secretary slash little boy Pete Higgsath announced an effort to crack down on people disclosing sensitive information without authorization, which is a little funny,

because some of you might remember that Pete Hegseth shared sensitive information without authorization on a signal chat that featured the editor-in-chief of the Atlantic. Hegg says announcement comes after the Department of Justice subpoenaed New York Times journalists following their reporting on security concerns involving the new Qatari-gifted Air Force One, which entered service earlier this month. Trump, however, used an older model Air Force One jet to leave the NATO summit in Turkey and later referenced threats against him made by Iran. According to the Times, the subpoenas seek to force the reporters to testify before a federal

grand jury in Manhattan this week. A federal immigration agent federally shot a motorist in Maine today. It's the second time in a week that immigration and customs enforcement officers have used deadly force. According to two advocacy groups, the man who was shot was a 26-year-old from Columbia, who was authorized to work in the U.S. and had a social security number. And that's the news. Let's talk about the elite South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham. Graham passed away suddenly on Saturday evening at the age of 71.

A preliminary report said he died of an aortic dissection caused by heart disease. Graham was a political lifer. Before winning a seat in the Senate in 2003, he served in the House of Representatives beginning in 1995. And like many Republicans, Graham went from a dedicated opponent of Donald Trump, tweeting in 2015, quote, If we nominate Trump, we will get destroyed and we will deserve it, to one of Trump's most committed partisans. Just last month, he said that Trump was, quote, not far behind. God, after the president endorsed him for another term. Graham leaves big shoes to fill in the Senate at a time when President Trump is on the outs with a lot of the GOP. And today, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster announced his temporary replacement, Graham's younger sister, Darlene Graham

Nordone, who has little to no political experience of her own. So for more on Graham's legacy and what happens next, I spoke to Matt Weiser a few hours before McMaster's announcement. He's a staff writer at the Atlantic. Matt, welcome to Wadda. Hey, thanks for having me. So I think Lindsey Graham's passing came as a big surprise to pretty much everyone last weekend. It's tough to summarize a political legacy of someone who was around in the Senate for such a long time. But how will you remember Lindsey Graham?

You know, his sense of humor is something that a lot of people have mentioned and I experienced some too during the times that I've interviewed him and followed his 2016 presidential. campaign. But I think he'll also be remembered for morphing at times. You know, he took different positions at different moments. He was trying to be close to power. He had a great friendship with John McCain and later really attached himself to President Trump. And, you know, critics would say that he abandoned some of his principles and sort of shifted as, as time went on, given some of his rhetoric, particularly around Trump. I think something that seemed to be the through line, though, was that he was a foreign policy hawk. Like, you know, he was wearing the make Iran great again hat. He has been a major advocate for war with Iran. Just before he died, he was in

Ukraine. He was one of Ukraine's biggest and loudest supporters in the Senate. Where does his death leave the U.S. and the allies of Ukraine and of the conflict with Iran? I think with deep uncertainty, I mean, he was really a conduit up until his last day, you know, with foreign leaders trying to explain Trump, trying to move Trump, the sanctions bill that he was pushing. What was really the last thing that he was doing and had an agreement, he said, with the White House around more sanctions on Russia. And, you know, as you mentioned, like, he was just very well traveled. And I think that is how he forged these different relationships with some unlikely people, John Kerry, Elizabeth Warren, Chris Coons, people who are not aligned with him politically, but got to know him on these foreign trips.

And, you know, they didn't agree with him, but I think they forged these personal bonds, which is kind of a bygone way of doing business in the Senate these days. I think those relationships exist fewer and fewer, but he's sort of a last remnant. of that kind of work and that kind of a politician. We'll get back to my conversation with Matt Weiser in a moment to talk about how Graham's death will impact the Senate GOP. But if you like the show, make sure to subscribe, leave a five-star review on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, watch us on YouTube and share with your friends. More to come after some ads. This episode is brought to you by IQ Bar, our exclusive snack, hydration, and coffee sponsor.

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biggest monthly expenses, so why wouldn't you want to earn points on it? Download the Build app and join the membership for where you live at Joinbilt.com slash Wad. That's J.O.O. I-O-I-N-B-I-L-T-com slash WOD. Use our link so they know we sent you. Let's get back to my conversation with Matt Weiser. It's a little goche to say, but Graham's passing makes life very difficult for the Senate GOP, which already was facing within margins. Mitch McConnell is still in the hospital.

There are just seven weeks remaining for the Senate until the midterms. How does losing Graham impact their ability to say, get a government funding bill done or get anything done? It really complicates it. I mean, just in the fact that Lindsay Graham was the chair of the Senate Budget Committee, you know, where some of this legislation was going through. As President Trump recounted in their last phone call, Graham was bringing up the Save America Act, which has been Trump's chief legislative priority. And he sort of conceded that this is a huge setback for any of those efforts, not having Lindsey Graham and his ability to persuade Senate Republicans to be on board. And we should also note, I mean, President Trump's relationship with the Senate Republican caucus is not good. He's at odds with a lot of senators. And Lindsey Graham was one of the conciliatory members who could kind of keep everybody on board. His absence really complicates things with a very small majority for them. I want to go back to the point that you were making about how Graham was

kind of the last of his kind of a particular type of senator. who was, yes, like a major ally to President Trump in the Senate, despite their weird relationship and the kind of off again, on again thing that they did both in 2016 and 2021. But Graham knew how to do politics. Like so much of what he was able to do for the people of South Carolina was get federal dollars to South Carolina, which is actually kind of what you're supposed to do. And he knew how D.C. worked. Like, he was someone who could go on any Sunday morning show and then come,

back on Monday and make friends with Democrats on specific issues. What does his death mean for Trump and Trump's ability to get things done in D.C.? Given, as you said, he's not getting along with Senate GOP leadership right now. Yeah, I think for Trump especially, it makes things a lot harder. Just because Lindsey Graham was that conduit, he could golf with Trump on a weekend and, you know, throughout the week, try to work on different senators and get them on board with Trump's agenda. And part of this, like, through sheer personality and his sense of humor and his ability to connect with people, I think, allowed those personal bonds to overlook some of the political differences. Graham is leaving a massive hole in the Senate. So let's talk about his potential replacement. Trump posted on true social today that he wants the governor of South Carolina to appoint Lindsay Graham's sister, Darlene Graham, Nordone, as his replacement.

So first question, who is Darlene Graham Nordone? down. So Darlene is his younger sister and has been a key component of Lindsay Graham's personal and political biography when he was running for president in 2016. She was a frequent presence. She would introduce him. And the story that they would often tell is one somewhat of tragedy. Their parents died when she was very young. Graham was older in college and would come home and take care of her and at some point became her legal guardian. And, you know, that he grew up in kind of a poor upbringing. And so she provided that kind of basis for his political biography. But it's not been kind of a central public figure. The only time I can remember really seeing her

was during that presidential campaign. She's been active in some of his South Carolina campaigns as well in introducing him and appearing in ads. and things like that. But it hasn't been thought of as somebody herself with political aspirations. She works with disabled children and lives in South Carolina. But in some ways that helps,

I think that she may not actually run for the seat, but she could be a caretaker and be a placeholder, somebody who's not going to be running to replace him permanently, but can be there for the time being. Yeah, I just saw a little bit of reporting before we came on, that someone was able to speak with her, and she basically was like, I'm too devastated to think about anything right now, which is actually how people would

handle this. But anyone the governor appoints will be a temporary replacement, because Graham was in the middle of a surprisingly tight reelection campaign. And I say surprisingly because Graham was reelected what felt like dozens of times to me. Who could emerge in that race for thinking, thinking towards the future, thinking towards the midterms? So there's a collection of people who are current, members of Congress, Nancy Mace, Joe Wilson, Ralph Norman. There's several candidates who could potentially run. It gets a little bit tricky and why Lindsey Graham's sister is a more logical solution because the House majority is so thin right now that they need those people to be in Congress and not to take an interim appointment and take them out of the mix in Congress.

So those are a couple of the names. The lieutenant governor is another. But it's a very short, compressed time frame. You know, Lindsey Graham won his the Republican primary a month ago. So this election will take place over the next couple of weeks. So it leans more toward candidates who are already in office, already have the infrastructure, and kind of can quickly put together a statewide campaign and try to win a Republican primary. Matt, thank you so much for joining me. Thanks so much for having me.

That was my conversation with Matt Viser, staff writer at the Atlantic. Before we go, the NYPD tells us they are here to protect New Yorkers, but what if their original purpose was something else altogether? Join Crooked Ideas, IRL, in Lower Manhattan for an immersive 90-minute walking tour inspired by the award-winning podcast Empire City. This on-the-ground storytelling experience takes you to real locations featured in the series, exposing how power struggles, political forces, and discriminatory policies shaped policing. Tours run monthly.

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slash subscribe. I'm Jane Koston, and Sam Neal was also one of New Zealand's great exports. And my favorite film of his is Hunt for the Wilder people. Highly recommend. What a day is a production of Crooked Media. Our show is produced by Caitlin Plummer, Emily 4, Erica Morrison, and Adrian Hill.

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