It took just hours after South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham’s death was announced for conspiracy theories to spread. Extremists, right-wing influencers, and political commentators have baselessly spent the weekend claiming that Russia, Israel, or Iran assassinated the 71-year-old.
Graham died on Saturday night at his Capitol Hill residence just hours after returning from Ukraine, where he announced a deal to impose sanctions on those buying Russian oil. A preliminary report from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Washington, D.C. said Graham likely suffered a tear in his aorta, linked to a hardening of his arteries.
“The death certificate will be pending until all the toxicological and microscopic testing are finalized and at that point the death certificate will be updated to reflect the cause of death and appropriately classify the manner of death,” the statement said.
CNN, citing multiple law enforcement officials, reported that no foul play was suspected in Graham’s death.
But by Sunday morning, while many of Graham’s colleagues paid tribute to the senator, conspiracy theorists were already claiming his death was the result of an assassination attempt orchestrated by one of the governments the senator had spent decades fighting against.
Serial conspiracy theorist and Trump confidante Laura Loomer was one of the first to suggest there was more to Graham’s death than natural causes. She linked the killing to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, citing the fact that during the funeral of slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran last week, attendees held up posters calling for the assassination of a number of Americans, including herself, President Donald Trump, and Graham.
“Was he poisoned by a foreign adversary either abroad or upon returning to the US?” Loomer wrote on X in a post viewed 1.8 million times, without providing evidence. “There should be an investigation into his death. Especially after Iran called for his death less than one week ago.”
Loomer claimed her theory was confirmed when Explosive Media, one of the pro-Iranian groups who have been trolling the US with AI-generated Lego videos, shared a video that appeared to suggest Iran was responsible for Graham’s death. The video, which was deleted from X but remains active on platforms like Instagram, included a scene where a character places a tick next to the name Lindsey, with the name Laura written underneath it.
Loomer also pointed to the statement of FBI director Kash Patel, who wrote on X on Sunday that his agency is “assisting local authorities and has made every necessary resource available.” This itself was, for many conspiracy theorists, evidence of a cover-up.
In response to Patel’s post, Tony Seruga, who claims to be a former CIA contractor, said the FBI “doesn’t roll out for natural causes.” In a widely shared post, he wrote that the “aortic dissection” explanation provided by the medical examiner was “the perfect cover diagnosis” as “it’s mechanically indistinguishable from certain chemical attacks.” He did not provide evidence to back up his claim.
Others blamed Russia for the attack, given Graham’s support of Ukraine and vocal criticism of Russian president Vladimir Putin. “Putin has poisoned and assassinated many of his opponents, and Graham was just in Kyiv where there are certainly FSB agents operating,” political commentator Marc Thiessen wrote on X. “There should be a full autopsy and tox screen to rule out foul play.”
Bill Browder, a British financier who has been targeted by Russia for years, also pushed the idea that Russia could be behind Graham’s death. “All tests should be done immediately to rule out foul play,” Browder wrote on X. ”I’ve seen enough Russian related suspicious deaths to know this is the only course of action.” 1.5 million people viewed Browder’s post.