Topic of the Week: Senator Lindsey Graham Dies Suddenly

Lindsey Graham, 71, who represented South Carolina in the U.S. Senate since 2003, died unexpectedly on Saturday due to a tear in his aorta. Colleagues from both sides of the political aisle commented on Graham’s career and his relationship with President Trump as the Republican Party weighed in on who should fill the remainder of his Senate term (Graham’s sister, Darline, was sworn in on Tuesday). Our analysts rated media coverage in our Topic of the Week.

A video from the Chris Norlund YouTube page was posted shortly after the news of Graham’s death and before many details were known. Norlund reads reports about his death from the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal, as well as reaction on social media from President Trump, lawmakers, world leaders and others. He talks about and shows video clips from Graham’s recent trip to Ukraine. Analysts categorized the video as “simple fact reporting” with a “middle/balanced” bias.

An article in Newsweek focuses on who might replace Graham in the U.S. Senate. It profiles seven possible candidates who might run against Democrat Dr. Annie Andrews in November. The article explains how the special primary election process in South Carolina will work. Analysts found the article to be a “mix of fact reporting and analysis” with a “middle/balanced” bias.

Articles from National Review and the Fox News website were both categorized as “analysis. The National Review article describes Graham’s policy positions and his “zest for the job,” calling him “a fierce advocate for what he believed.” The editors who wrote this story say Graham’s death is a loss for the Senate: “Graham forged a political career that mattered, and he did it with great verve.” Because of the article’s praise of Graham, analysts assigned a “skews right” bias rating.

The Fox News opinion article, written by foreign policy analyst Lisa Daftari, strikes a similar tone, calling Graham “a voice that Washington cannot easily replace.” Daftari says Graham understood the nuances of foreign policy and could go on TV and explain what was happening in the Mideast or in Ukraine in language that the general public could understand: “American foreign policy generally suffers in the gap between what our intelligence community knows and what the average voter hears. Lindsey bridged that gap.” Daftari said Graham was one of the few voices that would always be heard by President Trump. Because the article expresses support for Republican positions on foreign policy, analysts found the article to have a “strong right” bias. 

The lowest-rated coverage in our content set came from the political left. An article from Daily Kos calls Graham “a spineless war hawk” in the headline. Written by a member of the Daily Kos “community,” it describes Graham’s foreign policy this way: “There is not a foreign problem that Lindsey Graham thought we could not solve with U.S. military intervention.” The article gives a summary of Graham’s life, from his education to his military service and political career. It then focuses on his relationship with President Trump, of whom he was once a “fierce and vocal critic.” Graham later became one of Trump’s strongest allies, and the writer of this article guesses why: “I think that Donald Trump had something on Lindsey Graham. I can’t prove it, but his about-face seemed to happen almost instantaneously.” Because of the article’s criticism of Graham and his policy positions, as well as unsupported speculation, analysts rated this article as “unfair persuasion” with a “hyper-partisan left” bias.

Finally, a video from the HasanAbi YouTube channel sarcastically eulogizes Graham, with host Hasan Piker reading highlights about Graham’s life while a music track with dancing crabs plays in the background. “Lindsey Graham is pro-life and yet Lindsey Graham has died,” Piker says before describing him as a “bloodthirsty odious monster who loved war.” Piker refers to Graham as “ladybug” and says he died doing what he loved, “advancing the interests of the American empire.” Piker reads social media comments from people reacting to Graham’s death, including one who accuses Graham of paying for gay sex. Calling Graham a “demon” because of his “bloodlust,” Piker says Graham was an “inconsistent charlatan” for speaking out against Trump and then “he puckered his lips and planted them inside of Donald Trump’s ass cheeks for the next decade till the bitter end.” Analysts stated that Piker dehumanizes and vilifies Graham, speculates that he was gay, mocks his policy positions, and stokes conspiracies. The video was rated as “contains misleading info” with a “most extreme left” bias.

Follow along with our weekly Topic of the Week exercise by visiting our website. New Topics of the Week are posted each Monday. Read the articles and watch the videos yourself, then come back on Wednesday to compare your scores with our analysts. Learn more here.

Beth Heldebrandt is Director of Communications at Ad Fontes Media. She has more than 35 years of experience in the fields of journalism and public relations, and was an adjunct instructor of journalism for 17 years at Eastern Illinois University. Beth has a B.A. in journalism from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale and an M.A. in English from Eastern Illinois University. She’s a mom and grandma, and enjoys traveling, puzzles and reading.