Jake Tapper’s Coverage of Lindsey Graham’s Death is Tainted by TDS

Jorge Bonilla
July 12th, 2026 3:49 PM

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The shocking and untimely passing of Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) forced the Elitist Media Sunday shows to scramble and adjust their programming. CNN’s Jake Tapper, though, did not let that stop him from injecting Trump derangement into his program.

Watch as Tapper opens State of the Union with a very Trump-centric summation of Graham’s Senate career:

JAKE TAPPER: Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, has died at age 71 after what's being described as a brief and sudden illness. The chairman of the Senate Budget Committee was one of the most powerful and best-known senators. A former Trump critic turned fervent ally, a foreign policy hawk and interventionalist who frequently met with the leaders of Israel and Ukraine, where he was just visiting. Overnight, President Trump called Senator Graham, quote, “one of the greatest people and Senators I've ever known”, unquote. And it was Graham's relationship with the president that dominated the later part of his life, the last decade. A former protege of the late Senator John McCain, Lindsey Graham ran for president against Trump in 2016, called Trump, quote, “unfit for office” and much more.

LINDSEY GRAHAM: You know how you make America great again? Tell Donald Trump to go to hell.

TAPPER: But after Trump's election, Graham affixed himself to the president, becoming a frequent golf partner and confidante. He referred to himself as The President's North Star. He hoped to influence the president on the issues.

GRAHAM: Mr. President, I will be your strongest ally in the United States Senate.

TAPPER: One area, of course, where that didn't work is the January 6th riot. In the aftermath, Graham famously said he was done with President Trump.

GRAHAM: From my point of view, he's been a consequential president. But today, first thing you'll see- all I can say is, count me out. Enough is enough.

TAPPER: He and the president later reconciled. Graham, explaining his actions as a desire to continue to be relevant and to influence policy and the country. Before Trump, Graham and his dear friend John McCain were known as Senate mavericks. Graham bucked his party to vote for comprehensive immigration reform, climate change legislation, and two of President Obama's Supreme Court nominees. But that was all before 2016. Graham had been a JAG attorney in the Air Force before he ran for office and continued to serve in the Air Force Reserves, even as a Senator. The Senator never married. He had a difficult time as a young adult, his parents dying with. Within about 15 months when Graham was in college. He then helped to raise his 13 year old sister, Darlene. He later adopted her. CNN is learning that around 8:30 PM last night, dispatchers reported a 911 call about chest pains linked to Graham's residence. Emergency crew members had to initiate a forced entry into the home, and a dispatcher later said the crew was performing CPR.

Trump Derangement Syndrome pauses for no one’s death, not even that of a long-sitting U.S. Senator who always took the time to engage with the Elitist Media when many others did not. Tapper selected for Trump while recounting Graham’s service in the Senate, not taking into account his time in the House (where he served as a Clinton impeachment manager), his votes for Obama’s Supreme Court justices (Sotomayor and Kagan), and his support for “comprehensive immigration reform.” As far as Tapper was concerned Graham’s history began and ended with Trump: in a nutshell, 2016 and January 6th.

This limited view of history conveniently excises what many, including President Trump over the course of multiple interviews, consider to be Graham’s finest hour: his fiery defense of Brett Kavanaugh in the midst of Democrat attempts to keep him off the Supreme Court:

CHUCK GRASSLEY: Senator Graham asked for the floor. But before he does: it seems to me that if you want to know something, you got the witness right here to ask him. And secondly, if you want an FBI report you can ask for it yourself. I’ve asked for FBI reports myself in the past, in the 38 years I’ve been in the Senate. Senator Graham.

LINDSEY GRAHAM: Are you aware that at 9:23 on the night of July the 9th, the day you were nominated to the Supreme Court by President Trump, Senator Schumer said 23-minutes after your nomination, "I will oppose Judge Kavanaugh's nomination with everything I have, I have (sic) a bipartisan -- and I hope a bipartisan majority will do the same. The stakes are simply too high for anything less." Well, if you weren't aware of it, you are now. Did you meet with Senator Dianne Feinstein on August 20th? 

KAVANAUGH: I did meet with Senator Feinstein…

GRAHAM: Did you know that her staff had already recommended a lawyer to Dr. Ford?

KAVANAUGH: ... I did not know that.

GRAHAM: Did you know that her and her staff had this -- allegations for over 20 days?

KAVANAUGH: I did not know that at the time.

GRAHAM:If you wanted a FBI investigation, you could have come to us. What you want to do is destroy this guy's life, hold this seat open and hope you win in 2020. You've said that, not me. You've got nothing to apologize for.

When you see Sotomayor and Kagan, tell them that Lindsey said hello because I voted for them. I would never do to them what you've done to this guy. This is the most unethical sham since I've been in politics. And if you really wanted to know the truth, you sure as hell wouldn't have done what you've done to this guy.

Are you a gang rapist?

KAVANAUGH: No.

GRAHAM: I cannot imagine what you and your family have gone through. Boy, you all want power. God, I hope you never get it. I hope the American people can see through this sham. That you knew about it and you held it. You had no intention of protecting Dr. Ford; none.

She's as much of a victim as you are. God, I hate to say it because these have been my friends. But let me tell you, when it comes to this, you're looking for a fair process? You came to the wrong town at the wrong time, my friend. Do you consider this a job interview?

KAVANAUGH: If (ph) the advice and consent role is like a job interview.

GRAHAM: Do you consider that you've been through a job interview?

KAVANAUGH: I've been through a process of advice and consent under the Constitution, which…

GRAHAM: Would you say you've been through hell?

KAVANAUGH: I -- I've been through hell and then some.

GRAHAM: This is not a job interview.

KAVANAUGH: Yes.

GRAHAM: This is hell.

KAVANAUGH: This -- this…

GRAHAM: This is going to destroy the ability of good people to come forward because of this crap. Your high school yearbook -- you have interacted with professional women all your life, not one accusation.

You're supposed to be Bill Cosby when you're a junior and senior in high school. And all of a sudden, you got over it. It's been my understanding that if you drug women and rape them for two years in high school, you probably don't stop.

Here's my understanding, if you lived a good life people would recognize it, like the American Bar Association has, the gold standard. His integrity is absolutely unquestioned. He is the very circumspect in his personal conduct, harbors no biases or prejudices. He's entirely ethical, is a really decent person. He is warm, friendly, unassuming. He's the nicest person -- the ABA.

The one thing I can tell you should be proud of -- Ashley, you should be proud of this -- that you raised a daughter who had the good character to pray for Dr. Ford.

To my Republican colleagues, if you vote no, you're legitimizing the most despicable thing I have seen in my time in politics. You want this seat? I hope you never get it.

I hope you're on the Supreme Court, that's exactly where you should be. And I hope that the American people will see through this charade. And I wish you well. And I intend to vote for you and I hope everybody who's fair-minded will.

There was no time for that, though.

Tapper would continue his nasty business during his interview with Graham’s South Carolina colleague, Senator Tim Scott. An interview that was supposed to be about Graham detoured for a subtle “where’s Mitch” dig:

JAKE TAPPER: So the Senate reconvenes tomorrow. Senator Graham was taken to the same hospital where Senator Mitch McConnell is currently recovering from his health issues. It's a tough time for Senate Republicans right now.

TIM SCOTT: Well, it's a time for prayer for those folks who are ailing. There's no doubt about it, that Senator McConnell deserves our prayers. He served our country valiantly and and continues to be in good spirits from all that I've heard. I texted him over the weekend, I will simply say that we have a lot of work to get done, and we'll get our work done, but we certainly will miss Lindsey Graham. And as we focus on the next few weeks in the Senate, we'll take a step back and remember that we're all human. In fact, we all have families. We all are just there trying to serve the greatest country on the planet, and we'll get the work done. But in the next 48 hours and probably beyond, we'll spend time celebrating the life of Lindsey Graham, mourning the loss of Lindsey Graham, but understanding why he was so important to America, and hopefully doubling down on keeping Americans safe here at home and anywhere we travel.

Scott refused to take the bait, and shut down Tapper’s narrative line by bringing it back to honoring the memory of Lindsey Graham. “We are all human,” indeed.

In a hilarious exchange to end his interview with President Donald Trump, Tapper demonstrates his painful lack of self-awareness. 

JAKE TAPPER: Well, I know you don't want to talk about any other issues out of respect for Lindsey Graham, but we would love to have you back sometime because I do have a lot of other questions for you, sir.

DONALD TRUMP: Sure, we'll do that. We'll do that.

TAPPER: Thank you for calling.

TRUMP: We’re trying to have CNN go in a normal path and we'll do that.

TAPPER: Well, I'm on a normal path right here, sir, and I appreciate your time.

TRUMP: Good. You are. 

TAPPER: And thank you for calling in.

TRUMP: OK. Thanks so much.

TAPPER: Thanks so much. We’ll be right back after this quick break.

This interesting discussion about what “a normal path” for CNN looks like encapsulates Tapper’s coverage of Lindsey Graham- marred by the pervasive Trump derangement that for so long has constituted “a normal path” at the Cable News Network- but is anything but. Trump Derangement Syndrome takes no days off- not even for the death of a Senator.

 

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