After MAGA conspiracy theories involving Russia and Iran flooded social media, preliminary medical report links Lindsey Graham's death to tear in the aorta wall

(WJCL News, Facebook)

Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of Donald Trump's  staunchest supporters, likely died over the weekend from a tear in his aorta, according to a preliminary medical-examiner finding. The tear in the inner wall of the aorta is called an aortic dissection and likely was related to the hardening of Graham's arteries. An official cause of death will be disclosed after toxicological and microscopic testing.

The report came after social media was inundated much of Sunday by rumors, mostly spread by Trump's MAGA supporters, that Russian operatives (apparently tied to Vladimir Putin) had poisoned Graham during or after a recent trip to Ukraine because of the senator's support for new, tough sanctions against Russia. This is from a report at Raw Story under the headline "'Get your tinfoil; MAGA chases 'conspiracy' clicks hours after Lindsey Graham's death":

Just hours after the 'sudden' death of Sen. Lindsey Graham was announced to the public, MAGA conspiracy theorists began chasing traffic with wild claims about the cause.

Questions do remain after Graham's office released a statement Sunday morning that was short on detail.

"On the evening of Saturday, July 11, U.S. President Donald Trump has promised to release more information after declaring on Truth Social Sunday morning that Graham "is dead!"

It was later revealed he died Saturday night at George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C. after reportedly suffering chest pains. "Lindsey Graham passed away from a brief and sudden illness," read the 2 a.m. statement. "Senator Graham's family appreciates prayers at this time and asks for privacy during this incredibly difficult period."

These sparse details proved fodder enough for conspiracy theories to thrive on X. 

 Libertarian talk show host Clint Russell told his nearly 300,000 followers to "get your tinfoil ready" before he suggested, without evidence, that Russia was somehow to blame for Graham's death in Washington, D.C.

Graham was in Ukraine as recently as Friday for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, reports show.

"I'd say there is a decent chance that Russia blew up Lindsey Graham," Russell wrote in a comment liked more than a thousand times.

"Graham is not just the most psychotic booster of Ukraine but he was also the biggest booster for arming Ukraine a decade ago (and likely the Maidan revolution) which really forced Russia to invade," Russell added. "This -could- be the warning shot to the political class that while Russia doesn't want WW3 they will extract a cost on the politicians themselves who are pushing for this endless war. It's now being reported he died of a heart attack. Sure, maybe. Idk."

MAGA influencer Laura Loomer also blamed Russia but she decided to tell her 1.9 million followers, again without evidence, that it was possible Russia had poisoned Graham with help from Iran. "There seriously needs to be an investigation," she wrote in a post liked nearly 10,000 times. "Russia just sent a delegation to Khamenei’s funeral in Tehran where the IRGC and funeral organizers was calling for myself, President Trump and Senator Graham to be assassinated. Lindsey Graham was in Ukraine one day ago calling for a Russian sanctions bill that he claimed the White House supports. Now he is suddenly dead from a random illness according to his staff. Did Russia just murder a US Senator?"

Will release of the preliminary medical report cause the conspiracy theories to die down? Probably not. But The Hill provides details about the early official findings under the headline "Preliminary findings refveal Graham died of 'aortic dissection': Medical examiner":

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) died on Saturday of an aortic dissection due to arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease, the office of the Washington, D.C., chief medical examiner said Sunday.

“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,” noted the office of Dr. Francisco Diaz, the chief medical examiner for the District of Columbia.

In a joint statement, Diaz’s office and the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department noted comprehensive toxicological and microscopic testing, the former of which will determine whether any substances were in Graham’s system, will “take time to complete.”

Emergency medical services (EMS) personnel responded to a call for “cardiac arrest” at Graham’s home in Capitol Hill on Saturday night, according to scanner audio obtained by NBC News. EMS personnel on the scene later administered CPR, according to audio.

Photographs from the scene obtained by NBC News showed paramedics carrying a person on a stretcher from Graham’s house to an ambulance, with police cars and fire trucks also on site.

While the Senate was on recess this past week, Graham traveled to Ukraine amid Russia’s continued invasion of its neighbor to the west. While there, the South Carolina Republican met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday.

President Trump said Sunday he spoke to Graham on Saturday evening, shortly after the four-term senator returned to D.C. from Ukraine.

“He sounded a little tired, but perfect. But a little bit tired, he had a right to be,” Trump told host Kristen Welker on NBC News’s “Meet the Press.”  

An aortic dissection is when a tear occurs in the inner layer of the body’s main artery, the aorta, according to the Mayo Clinic. Once blood rushes through the tear, the inner and middle layers of the artery will split, with the dissection often deadly if blood goes outside the artery.

The Mayo Clinic noted aortic dissections, while not common, typically occur to men in their 60s and 70s. Symptoms of aortic dissections include sudden severe chest or upper back pain that spreads to the neck or back, sudden severe stomach pain or loss of consciousness.

Cardiovascular disease, a group of diseases impacting the heart and blood vessels, is the leading cause of death worldwide and in the U.S. as of 2022, according to the Cleveland Clinic. 

Those with a family history of heart disease are more likely to develop cardiovascular disease, the latter clinic noted. Graham’s father, Florence Graham, died of a heart attack at the age of 68. 

Platner's exit speech suggests the "establishment" and Democratic Socialists under Bernie Sanders' sway might never be able to live happily under one roof

When word came Wednesday that Graham Platner was set to leave the U.S. Senate race in Maine, Democratic officials reportedly were hoping he would exit quietly. allowing the party to choose a replacement and move forward with a sense of unity. Platner, however, had other ideas. The Washington Post described his exit statement, provided via video, as "bitter" and "defiant." Other news outlets used similar language, with words such as "grace" and "apologetic" nowhere to be found. That's because Platner, in so many words, blamed the Democratic Party -- not his own graceless behavior -- for a campaign that went from promising to imploding.

Julie Roginsky, a Democratic Party strategist who has been a contributing writer at Fox News and CNBC, picked up on that theme at her Salty Politics newsletter on Substack. Under the headline "The one person Platner didn't trash on his way out the door; plus he hasn't actually dropped out," Roginsky writes:

Graham Platner suspended his race for the United States Senate Wednesday night and somehow managed to make his withdrawal even more damning than his candidacy.

As of [Thursday] morning, there is no confirmation that Platner has formally filed the paperwork necessary to get off the ballot. He can hold the party hostage to his whims until the last minute. He can, if he is angry enough, just keep his name on the ballot and prevent anyone else from running altogether. His "suspension”speech is reason enough to believe that he will take it down to the wire.

Based on my social-media feeds, many Americans are acutely aware that, with Donald Trump in the White House, we are essentially hostages for a president who shows many traits of narcissism. As we have reported here at the Legal Schnauzer blog, former Johns Hopkins psychologist, psychoanalyst, and professor John Gartner has been one of the most astute and outspoken observers of Trump's behavior, labeling it in stark and concerning terms. Gartner also is the founder of the Duty to Warn PAC, an organization working to raise awareness about the danger to the United States and the world posed by Donald Trump. Gartner has stated:

Trump is a malignant narcissist. Erich Fromm, the noted psychoanalyst who studied Nazi Germany — and the person who introduced the diagnosis of “narcissism” — explained that in such personalities their grandiosity, their narcissism, their paranoia, conspiracy theories, sociopathy, criminal behavior and sadism all go into overdrive when they get power. Those traits are also inflamed when a narcissist is challenged or attacked.

And there is a feedback loop as well, where because they’re gaining power — which inflames their narcissism and their paranoia and their freedom to act on their criminal impulses — of course that means there will be opposition and resistance to them. Narcissists like Donald Trump then demonize and try to brutalize and invalidate anyone who does not kiss his ring. Trump has systematically eliminated every single guardrail on his power and behavior in the White House.

Donald Trump, it turns out, might not be the only person with narcissistic traits who has been making political headlines. Consider Julie Roginsky's take on Graham Platner's exit speech.

For eleven minutes, Platner talked about himself, about what had been done to him, about the campaign he built, about the movement he led, and about the victory he won. Most prevalently, he talked about the sinister forces he believes took it all away.

“They are not going to let us have it,” he said furiously, practically through tears.

Who, exactly, is “they”?

Chuck Schumer? The Maine Democratic Party? AIPAC? Platner never really said. “They” are always more useful when they remain amorphous. “They” can be whoever his supporters already hate.

But there was one name conspicuously absent from Platner’s self-pitying farewell: Susan Collins.

That omission made this a case of what Platner did NOT say being more revealing than what he DID say. Roginsky writes:

Platner did not use his moment to tell his supporters that the most important thing now is defeating the Republican senator he supposedly entered this race to defeat. He did not tell them to rally behind the next Democratic nominee. He did not say that Medicare for All, economic justice, workers’ rights or ending endless wars hinge on first beating Collins.

Instead, after a campaign that had already been consumed by one scandal after another, Platner used his exit to attack the party that must now clean up his mess. “The ball is in the court of the Democratic establishment,” he declared, after complaining that “they” would not let his movement “have” the victory it had earned. 

Much of the controversy surrounding Platner's campaign centers on accusations that he has been an abuser of women. The language of his suspension speech seemed to carry the tone of an abuser, Roginsky writes:

My friend Michelle Kinney noted last night that there is a familiar ring to this if you have crossed paths with an abuser: If I cannot have you, no one will. Or, in this case: If Graham Platner cannot have this Senate seat, then the party he claimed to care about can’t either. That’s why he refused to mention Collins’ name.

Platner’s selfishness did not begin with his withdrawal. It began with his decision to run in the first place, despite having been present for every moment of his own life and knowing exactly how he had spent it. What was appalling is that he used PTSD and alcoholism as the absolution for all his bad behavior. More appalling is how many otherwise smart people excused his vile screeds against women, people of color, members of the LGBTQ communities, the disabled (and rural Mainers) for the same reason.

Roginsky raises this question: Is Graham Platner profoundly lacking in self-awareness, perhaps to the point that he has no business attempting to serve in public office? Or maybe he was aware of his transgressions and chose to cover them up. Here is more from Roginsky on that subject:

Really, friends, it’s OK to hold a politician accountable for being a scumbag, even if he was drunk when he behaved poorly. Alcoholism is a disease that deserves grace, but it does not entitle anyone to run in a swing state against an entrenched incumbent. Besides, was he also drunk every time he swore up and down this year that there were no more skeletons in his closet, only for another cadaver to fall out the next moment?

Candidates know what is in their own pasts. Platner knew before he asked Maine Democrats to make him their nominee that there were reams of material waiting to come out. First came the offensive Reddit posts, then the tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol. There were reports that he had sent sexually explicit messages to multiple women early in his marriage, then allegations from former partners about disturbing and violent behavior. Finally came allegations of sexual assault and nonconsensual condom removal, all of which Platner has denied.

At every stage, Democrats were told that this was the last shoe. By the end, one had to wonder whether there was a DSW left in Maine with any inventory. 

Some have called the Platner candidacy an "insurgency," supposedly against the "establishment" but possibly against the Democratic Party. At a campaign rally in May 2026, Platner declared that he was running under the banner of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), and he shared the stage with the most famous DSAer of all, Bernie Sanders. 

DSA candidates have been on a primary winning streak in 2026, but their vanquished foes have mostly been mainstream Democrats. Could that cause a rift within the Democratic Party? Are Democratic Socialists capable of taking down large numbers of Republicans in general elections? Is their aim to take down Trump or could they wind up helping to keep Trumpers in power? As Roginsky notes, DSA candidates have not reacted well to those who voiced concerns the insurgents might hurt the Democratic Party more than help it:

The people who raised alarms were scolded for focusing on gossip. They were accused of doing the establishment’s dirty work. When the reports about Platner’s messages to women surfaced just before the June 9 primary, Bernie Sanders brushed them aside. “I think it’s important for us to focus on the issues facing working families a little bit more than Graham Platner’s marriage,” Sanders said.

But that was precisely the problem. This was never merely about Platner’s marriage. It was about whether a candidate seeking one of the most consequential Senate seats in America had been candid with voters about the volume of damaging material in his past — and whether the people promoting him had done even the most elementary work of figuring out whom they were selling.

Roginsky is quick to say that Sanders and other DSA candidates have quite a few solid policy ideas. But that, she says, is only part of the equation:

For the record, I agree with Sanders on a lot of policy prescriptions. I want Medicare for All. I want billionaires to pay their fair share and workers to have more power. I agree wholeheartedly that the Democratic establishment has utterly failed in meeting this moment.

But the way you achieve those things is by electing people who can win. The way you defeat Collins is by nominating someone capable of surviving a general election. The way you build lasting progressive power is not by slapping the correct policy positions onto a defective product and then accusing everyone who notices the defects of serving the oligarchy. Doing this is the political equivalent of consumer fraud.

The Sanders movement and the broader DSA political ecosystem keep insisting that ideology is the ultimate test of political virtue. Say the right things about billionaires, Gaza, health care, and war and every question about character or electability becomes a plot by “the establishment.” Then the candidate implodes and suddenly the people who sounded the alarm are expected to help clean up the blast radius while Sanders takes 24 hours to get around to kinda-sorta conceding that maybe it’s time for Platner to reconsider his candidacy. 

In the end, this might be a case of one movement and one party who cannot live happily under one roof. So what gives? No one seems to know at the moment, but Roginsky has serious thoughts on the matter, focusing especially on the delusions and shortcomings of the DSA movement:

The culture that made Platner possible is motivated by one key attribute: a political world in which hostility to the Democratic Party is often treated as a more important credential than the ability to help Democrats win power. Those of us who don’t fall in line with deeply problematic candidates who denigrate women and people of color (you know, the groups who are actually the backbone of the Democratic Party) are considered sell-outs because we allegedly care too much about the “establishment” and not enough about the “working man.”

This may come as a surprise to Daniel Moraff, the Brown University and Yale Law School graduate and self-proclaimed Bernie Sanders “supevolunteer” who recruited Platner to run: successful campaigns vet their candidates before unleashing them on voters. Moraff has failed to do this repeatedly — not when he worked for a candidate in Pittsburgh who it turned out belonged to a church with anti-gay views (he lost); not when he worked for a candidate in New York who it turned out beat her son with a belt (she lost); not when he worked for a candidate in Iowa whom he never bothered to properly vet (he lost too). In Maine, Moraff also failed to properly vet Platner.

No matter, because Moraff had the secret weapon that turns many a young DSA man hard: he got his mentor Sanders to endorse Platner just days after Platner entered the race. Sanders, in turn, helped make Platner into a national progressive star and publicly discouraged Governor Janet Mills from entering the primary. Platner became a vehicle for the Sanders wing’s longstanding project of proving that the Democratic establishment was weak, corrupt, and ideologically bankrupt. (It is here that I note, again, that Sanders cannot even be bothered to join the party he has spent decades trying to conquer.)

In simple terms, it might come down to this: Will Sanders and his acolytes wind up being about selflessness or selfishness? Roginsky provides clues for political observers to pick up on:

Having gotten us into this mess with their self-righteous bullshit, here is the test for Sanders and his ilk now: If Platner actually files the paperwork to drop out, Maine Democrats will choose a replacement by July 27. That person may well be a member of the DSA — or not. Does it really matter? Whoever it is will be miles better than Susan Collins.

So count the times Bernie Sanders comes over from Vermont to campaign for the eventual nominee. Count the rallies, the fundraising emails, the breathless speeches about the moral imperative of defeating Susan Collins. My prediction: one check-the-box rally at best, unless the nominee pledges sufficient devotion to Sanders and his political project.

If this were really about achieving Medicare for All and not just using it as a plot device to wrest power from the establishment, Sanders and his allies would have found another candidate the moment the first, second, and third Platner shoes began falling. If this were really about billionaires, they would have protected the chance to flip this crucial Senate seat. If this were really about ending wars, workers, health care and working families, Platner would have ended his campaign by saying the most important words he somehow never managed to say: “If you believed in my candidacy because you agreed with my message, you have to support the eventual Democratic nominee and defeat Susan Collins.” 

He did not, because in the end, his withdrawal revealed the ugliest truth about his candidacy: Graham Platner was not a man serving a movement. The movement was serving Graham Platner. 

After a scandal-plagued campaign, including reports of crass comments about rape victims, Graham Platner drops out with candidates lining up to replace him

Troy Jackson (right) is considered a prime candidate to replace Graham Platner (WUFT News)

Graham Platner dropped out of the U.S. Senate race last night, and Maine Democrats already are lining up to take his place. A rape allegation from a former girlfriend proved to be too much for the scandal-plagued Platner to overcome. That is ironic because earlier yesterday, an old Reddit post surfaced in which Platner made insensitive remarks about rape victims, saying they should take some responsibility for being victimized. It is unknown what impact the rape remarks might have had on Platner's decision to exit the race, but given all of the other instances where he had shown poor judgement -- plus the crassness of his statements -- they might have crushed any hope he had of remaining a viable candidate.

Democratic Party power brokers in D.C. had made it clear that they would not help fund Platner's campaign if he opted to continue, and that pretty much ended any hope he had of remaining in the race. It also gave other Maine Democrats a chance to pounce on a spot that had opened up. Politico provides the latest on a race that could determine which party winds up controlling the Senate after the November midterms. Under the headline "Graham Platner just dropped out. Here's who could replace him," Erin Doherty and Andrew Howard write:

Graham Platner just dropped out of Maine’s Senate race. Some Democrats have already said they want to replace him.

A POLITICO report of a new sexual allegation against Platner on Monday set off a scramble among Maine Democrats, as they pressured the candidate to step down and weighed who could take his place to defeat GOP Sen. Susan Collins, the only Republican running in a state won by Kamala Harris this cycle. The party has long held that winning the Maine Senate race will be critical to retaking control of the upper chamber.

Some, like former Senate President Troy Jackson, were more explicit than others, setting up joint fundraising committees before Platner dropped out. Others, including Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, said they would “seriously consider” entering the race if Platner suspended his campaign. Meanwhile, a few possible candidates, including Rep. Jared Golden, Maine Senate President Mattie Daughtry and actor Patrick Dempsey (yes, really) have ruled themselves out.

Now, jockeying for the nomination is expected to accelerate, with less than four months until Election Day. State law gives the Maine Democratic Party the authority to replace Platner, and mandates that his successor must be chosen by July 27. On Wednesday, just before Platner suspended his campaign, the Maine Democratic Party approved tentative plans for a nominating convention to pick his successor.

Here is how Politico sees the race shaping up, now that Platner and his personal baggage are no longer factors:

Troy Jackson

Jackson, who was a Platner ally before calling on him to step aside Monday, swiftly launched his Senate bid after Platner suspended his campaign.

“I’m in. And we’re going to defeat Susan Collins,” Jackson wrote in a post on X. “Maine deserves a Senator that will fight for working families.”

Jackson was widely speculated to jump into the race and had filed his interest in a bid with the Federal Election Commission before Wednesday.

A logger with long ties to organized labor, he’s quickly attracted attention from many of the oysterman’s progressive supporters. Our Revolution, a progressive organization founded by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), has already thrown its support behind Jackson.

But already, some votes from his 20-year history in the legislature are resurfacing, such as his 2009 state Senate vote against a bill to legalize same-sex marriage, giving Platner’s base a bit of pause. He later called that the “worst vote I ever took.” His closeness to Platner during the primary may also give pause to some Democrats as they choose their next nominee.

Still, as one of a number of Democrats who just lost the primary for governor, Jackson has the benefit of being able to quickly rebuild his campaign.

Dan Kleban 

Kleban also announced his bid Wednesday. The 49-year-old founder of Maine Beer Company had dropped out of the Democratic Senate primary earlier this year and threw his weight behind establishment-backed Gov. Janet Mills. 

“Mainers deserve a senator who will fight for them against the D.C. establishment while also doing what’s right,” Kleban said in a statement. “I plan to be that senator.” He should be able to quickly rebuild his campaign.

Considering running

Nirav Shah

Shah, a former public health official, is “evaluating” whether he will mount a Senate bid, he told POLITICO Tuesday afternoon. But he was already positioning himself as a candidate before Platner’s announcement.

He called for an open process on Tuesday, including at least one televised debate, and multiple public town halls across Maine.

Shah oversaw the state’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic. He mounted his first run for public office earlier this year, finishing second in Maine’s gubernatorial primary. He said in an interview that he is “very, very much aligned” with Platner’s politics. 

Shenna Bellows

In a statement on Tuesday, the Maine Secretary of State said she would “seriously consider entering this race, because I believe I am uniquely fit to unite Mainers and defeat Susan Collins in just over 100 days.” 

Bellows, who also ran unsuccessfully for governor, has been fielding calls about a potential run, according to a person familiar with her campaign, granted anonymity to speak about private conversations. The person pointed to her ideological alignment with Platner on progressive issues and compelling biography — she grew up poor in rural Maine and flipped a GOP-held state Senate district — providing an early glimpse of part of her pitch if she decides to enter the race. 

Bellows previously ran for Senate and lost badly to Collins in 2014. She will need to prove to voters that she can win this time around, given her past defeat. 

Jordan Wood

Wood is another former Senate candidate, but he switched to run for the state’s 2nd District after Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) decided he wouldn’t attempt reelection. Wood finished third in that race with state Auditor Matt Dunlap winning the nomination after a ranked-choice count.

A former staffer of former Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.), Wood may have trouble courting Platner supporters who want someone from outside of D.C. But he posted solid fundraising during his House run and has worked hard to keep his name in the fold. 

Paige Loud

Loud also ran for Congress in the 2nd District, coming in last during the first round of voting.. She quickly filed interest paperwork with the FEC on Tuesday to succeed Platner.

“I don’t think we should be electing a man,” Loud, who also held an unpaid role on Platner’s campaign before leaving earlier this year, said in an interview. “I think I’m tired of making women vote for a man.” 

Valli Geiger

People close to Platner have been quick to mention Geiger — a member of the state House and top ally of the oysterman — as a potential successor. But Wednesday brought some drama on whether she would have Platner's blessing. 

Geiger told a Maine local outlet that Platner said he was throwing his support behind her. The Platner campaign then said that no such commitment was made. 

In an interview with MS NOW, Geiger said she’d taken calls about running for Senate and that she would be willing to run. But the 70-year-old state representative said a younger candidate would be better.

Andrea LaFlamme

LaFlamme was a write-in candidate during the Democratic Senate primary, receiving just over 1,000 votes. On Tuesday, she said she believes she is the “best person to take on Susan Collins” in a post on Bluesky.

LaFlamme initially launched her write-in bid because of Platner’s earlier controversies, telling the student paper of the college she works for that electing Platner “sends the message that women are not valued.” Given the fate of her write-in campaign, and the number of well-known Democrats already running, it’s unlikely she will ultimately take on Collins. 

Platner's thoughtless comments about rape victims 

Graham Platner, Maine's embattled Democratic Senate nominee who stands accused of rape, made a Reddit post in 2013 where he criticized victims of rape.

"Holy f---, how about people just take some responsibility for themselves and not get so f---ed up they wind up having sex with someone they don't mean to?" Platner wrote in 2013, responding to another user who expressed disappointment that women couldn't get intoxicated without fearing sexual assault.

"Men and women, you make a choice to consume enough of a substance to lose your self control. So if you don't want to be in a comprising [sic.] situation, act like an adult for f---s sake," Platner continued. "Rape is a real thing, if you're so worried about it to buy Kevlar underwear, you'd think you might not get blacked out f---ed up around people you aren't comfortable with."