After Graham's death and McConnell's absence, conspiracy theories abound | US Senate

Theory Briefing

• Graham's death triggered a wave of competing culprit theories — Russia, Israel, Iran, the Clintons, and a Covid booster shot all named online.
• McConnell's simultaneous absence from the Senate added fuel, with users treating two unconnected events as a single coordinated plot.
• The range of contradictory suspects shows how a high-profile death invites people to fit it into whatever threat narrative they already believe.
• No single theory dominated — the sheer variety suggests the suspicion itself, not any one explanation, is the real social phenomenon.