Super Tuesdays - The Death of Lindsey Graham and the Senate's Vanishing Center

Super Tuesdays - The Death of Lindsey Graham and the Senate's Vanishing Center

From The Chuck ToddCast by iHeartPodcasts

July 14, 2026 · 1h 6m

About this episode

Chris Cillizza and Chuck Todd discuss the political implications of Lindsey Graham's sudden death and the changing dynamics in the Senate.

Chris Cillizza and Chuck Todd open on a jolting weekend in politics: the sudden death of Lindsey Graham and the frantic — and faintly unseemly — scramble to replace him. Rather than relitigate Graham through the usual partisan lens, the guys argue that his loss, alongside the coming departures of Cornyn, Tillis, Cassidy, Durbin and others, amounts to a gutting of the Senate's dealmaking center, and they lay out their favorite framework for understanding him: the difference between "ideologues" and "politicians," and why the politicians are the ones who actually get things passed. They break down the near-term fallout for Trump, who just lost his most effective back-channel to skeptical senators and to Ukraine, and handicap the wide-open South Carolina race — from Henry McMaster's likely caretaker appointment to a crowded August primary featuring Pamela Evette, Nancy Mace, and a possible Trey Gowdy compromise play. From there it's on to two health stories the news cycle nearly buried — the mystery around Mitch McConnell's fall, pneumonia and rehab stay, and Trump's latest Walter Reed cognitive test — before a deep dive into Maine, where Susan Collins…

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Host: Chuck Todd

Guest: Chris Cillizza

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