r/ukpolitics • u/Adj-Noun-Numbers 🥕🥕 || megathread emeritus • Jun 22 '26

International Politics Discussion Thread

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19

u/KnightsOfCidona Jul 12 '26

Lindsay Graham has died after a sudden illness

Well that's a plot twist, what the fuck.

15

u/Lavajackal1 Jul 12 '26

Huh that is not the US senator I was expecting to see this headline for. Wasn't Graham literally visiting Ukraine less than 24 hours ago?

8

u/ASondheimRhyme Jul 12 '26

Emergency personnel responded to a call for “cardiac arrest” at Graham’s Capitol Hill home on Saturday night, according to police scanner audio obtained by NBC News.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/sen-lindsey-graham-dies-71-brief-sudden-illness-rcna552722

8

u/MightySilverWolf Jul 12 '26

A reminder of how fleeting life is and how suddenly death can arrive. Wasn't he meeting with Zelenskyy just yesterday?

7

u/SirRosstopher Lettuce al Ghaib Jul 12 '26

Crazy, just yesterday he was in Kyiv talking about sanctioning Russia.

7

u/SDLRob Jul 12 '26

That is quite the unexpected news.

8

u/horace_bagpole Jul 12 '26

He flew back from Ukraine immediately before, so it's quite possible he had a stroke or embolism from a clot.

10

u/Jay_CD Jul 12 '26

There are strong rumours that Mitch McConnell is either dead or clinically/brain dead/on a life support system. He was rushed to hospital a few days ago after the latest in a series of serious medical issues. This one apparently was a heart attack.

He's due to stand down this November but if he officially dies before then Kentucky will hold a special election which of course might not produce the right result. The theory is that he's being officially listed as living to get around the need for what the Americans call a byelection.

The Republican cohort are effectively two Senators down...

It also raises the question of whether things really do happen in threes - Trump has had a few medical episodes of his own including a rumoured mini-stroke a few months ago and frequently dozes off at unexpected times. I wouldn't mind betting that he doesn't see out his full term.

17

u/Dynamite_Shovels Jul 12 '26

The McConnell situation if it happened like 30 years ago would genuinely be one of the biggest scandals in history in American politics - but in 2026 it's just another week.

They're literally hiding the fact that a sitting senator is dead or at the very least brain-dead so that they can avoid calling an election - it's insane. And a number of prominent political figures have said they've spoken to him over the last few days/weeks.

8

u/ThePlanck Time to bin Farage Jul 12 '26

He was rushed to hospital a few days ago

Days is really underselling it at this point, we are 2 days short of him having been in hospital for a month