Scarborough Uses Graham Tribute to Brag About Warning Trump on Iran

Joe Scarborough phoned in to Sunday's edition of The Weekend on MS NOW to share remembrances of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who passed away suddenly Saturday at age 71. Scarborough and Graham both entered Congress as part of the historic 1994 Republican Revolution class that reclaimed the House majority for the GOP.

But Scarborough couldn't resist the opportunity to burnish his liberal street cred—while inserting a self-serving anecdote about Iran policy.

Liberal Street Cred Maintenance:

"I often would disagree very strongly with his policy positions, especially after he became such a close ally to President Trump... I've been less than gracious with him on the air time and time again as it related to his alliances with Donald Trump."

Bragging on Warning Trump on Iran:

"I remember calling President Trump, on the Friday before we went in, and I don't talk to him often, but I just got the sense that, that he was going to be going in soon, based on my contacts.

"And I just, you know, tried to do a little bit of reporting, and then just as the guy who had known him for twenty years, I said, 'Mr. President, I just want to warn you. Iran's not gonna be as easy as Lindsey says it's gonna be. Just beware.'"

Classic Scarborough. He nodded to Graham's personal qualities and their shared history while making clear he had repeatedly slammed the senator's support for Trump. 

Then he used the tribute segment to highlight his own supposed wisdom and access, claiming he personally warned Trump that military action against Iran would prove more difficult than Graham suggested.

In reality, Graham — a longtime hawk on Iran — did not predict an effortless walk in the park. He emphasized U.S. and Israeli military superiority and the need for decisive action to degrade the regime's capabilities. On that score, even critics of the broader conflict have acknowledged that American and Israeli forces performed with remarkable effectiveness, rapidly degrading Iran's military infrastructure and eliminating key leadership, including the Ayatollah, early on.

Where post-war analysis has raised legitimate questions is the apparent underestimation of Iran's ability to exploit its influence over the Strait of Hormuz, and related asymmetric responses. 

But Scarborough's framing turned Graham's calls for strength into naive over-optimism while positioning himself as the prudent voice who tried to steer Trump away from it.

In an era when media figures love to lecture others about "not politicizing" deaths, Scarborough turned a remembrance into another chance to reinforce his brand and settle old policy scores. 

Graham's sudden passing is still fresh, with tributes coming in from across the political spectrum. But Scarborough exploited it to advance his own interests.

Here's the transcript.

MS NOW
The Weekend
7/12/26
7:01 am EDT

JACKIE ALEMANY: Joining us now on the phone is Joe Scarborough, host of Morning Joe, who served in Congress with Lindsey Graham. Good morning, Joe.

JOE SCARBOROUGH: Good morning, good morning. Yeah, we, we, we came in at the same time, in fact, in January of 1995, we were both part of that large, class of 1994, Contract with America, class of' 94, so yeah, I got to know Lindsey very early and, got to know him pretty well.

ALEMANY: Yeah, and I saw that you just posted on X, actually, that you saw him not so long ago.

SCARBOROUGH: Yeah, I did. We, you know, we would pass each other, from time to time. I often would disagree very strongly with his policy positions, especially after he became such a close ally to President Trump.

And he would, you know, zing back here and there, but, you know, we never had any, any tough words with each other personally.

And we had just gotten together, like, for the thirtieth anniversary of our 1994 class. It was a huge class, and was the first one that had taken over the majority for the Republicans in 40 years. And so, 60, 70 of us had come together, we, and just to meet back and brought our -- I thought I'd bring my family along because my younger children, were, were not born when all that was going on. 

And, so we met up with Lindsey, and it was just like, the first day I met him, he was laughing, he had very, you know, he's had a very self-different, self-deferential [sic, self-deprecating] way about him. Always joking about himself, always making himself the butt of the joke. 

So, when we saw each other, he laughed, smiled, hugged, and, made some self-deferential joke about himself, and then talked to my family. Mika was there and, a couple of my kids. Very, very kind. 

We had very kind words, despite the fact, again, that, you know, I, I've been less than gracious with him on the air time and time again as it related to his alliances with Donald Trump.

. . . 

Interesting, policy, interesting policy positions, I, I will say, I, and I've said it on my show, I, I, you know, Iran's gonna be part of his legacy, that war. 

I remember calling President Trump on the Friday before we went in, and I don't talk to him often, but I just got the sense that, that he was going to be going in soon, based on my contacts.

And I just, you know, tried to do a little bit of reporting, and then just as the guy who had known him for twenty years, I said, "Mr. President, I just want to warn you. Iran's not gonna be as easy as Lindsey says it's gonna be, just, just beware."

And of course, he didn't, didn't agree with me on that one and went on with that war.