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Politico With the Weakest Scoop on Lindsey Graham's Replacement

Brad Slager
Brad Slager  |  Jul 13, 2026
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Legalized Press-titution – POLITICO

  • This was just flimsy enough to warrant reporting on her first.

With the passing of Lindsey Graham this weekend, it took no time at all for the parlor games over who would be the interim choice to replace him and who would run for his seat to begin before the zipper on the body bag was pulled.

Politico wanted to get in on the SCOOP game, so it leaped at the chance to mention Nancy Mace as a likely name. It did so with about the most tangential content-free sourcing you will see.

“According to two people familiar with her thinking”?

BlueAnon – MS NOW

  • Yes, after all, it has been weeks, so it was just about time for the next Kash Patel non-troversy.

The wizards on the intelligence community beat are on top of things again. Kash Patel is about to be fired, according to the braintrust at MS NOW, for what might be the two-dozenth time since he was appointed. This time, he was summoned to the White House on short notice, and it was interpreted to mean he was being called to the carpet by President Trump. Now, let’s unravel this nonsense.

First off, any claim they make is dispelled by one key sentence: “The precise reasons that Patel’s political bosses demanded he cancel his trip and report to the West Wing are unclear.” Well then, don’t let that stop you from speculating wildly about what this all means!

Next, this is based on—you guessed it—anonymous sources. One of the primary reasons stated was the White House was bothered by Patel's comments about…MS NOW. Uh, sure…

Best yet, it took no fewer than FIVE reporters to deliver this content-free hit job, all while being unable to determine exactly why Patel was called in. And it was not all too difficult to glean the details. The New York Times reported Patel was in the White House for eight hours, spearheading the investigation into the intel breach involving Air Force 1.

Five reporters, to come up with guesswork.

Theory Over Activity – POLITICO

  • About that lack of representation…

Look, we just do not get soccer, so we do not pretend to understand some of the thinking surrounding the World Cup. But it seems strange that Politico is getting weepy about the Middle Eastern teams being eliminated, which delivers a dose of sadness for the outlet. This is because it could mean fewer Palestinian flags will be seen in the stadiums.

Apparently, the Palestinians have been adopted by teams and fans during the tournament, and the diminished flag waving is presented as a dose of bad news:

This may be the only World Cup where Palestinian flags have so noticeably outnumbered Italian ones.

Again, we are not fans of the game, but we know enough to inform the journalists Zohar Qamar and Mike Lee that part of the reason for this discrepancy is that Italy did not qualify for the tournament.

Race to the Bottom – CNN

  • We are not exactly sure how this works.

Abby Phillip, commenting on the perpetual aggression toward WNBA star Caitlin Clark, had a curious approach to the controversy about how she is treated in the league. Clark is repeatedly on the receiving end of deeply aggressive play on the court, and much of the time these infractions are not even whistled.

Yet, Ms. Phillip has taken the position that while Clark being targeted in this fashion for being white is not due to racism, anyone pointing out that this is happening IS being racist.

Border-line Obsession – THE GUARDIAN

  • The recalibration here is rather galling.

Behold, the latest recasting of an illegal found guilty of illegal activity. The story of the illegal who was recently deported from Minnesota has been rather astounding, and The Guardian is there to recast him as merely a “Minnesota Man pardoned last month.”

Small details are found that he is a Laotian, he was here illegally, and he had multiple convictions for the rape of a 10-year-old. 

Sure, by all means, let's work to keep this beast free and walking within our borders.

Demo-lition Project – MS NOW

  • This will not warrant an investigation, we are certain.

At the rechristened MSNBC, Jacob Soboroff has been set up as the network’s next star, and when MS NOW reconfigured its schedule (again), Soboroff was granted his own weekend program. Well, the results are in, and he is not exactly delivering as expected.

His new show, Connect: With Jacob Soboroff, runs in the three-hour 11:00 AM-2:00 PM slot. In year-to-date ratings, he has lost 20 percent of the audience, and in the key demographic, he is off 21 percent.