Remembering Lindsey Graham’s Pivotal Role in the Kavanaugh Confirmation Hearings

Remembering Lindsey Graham’s Pivotal Role in the Kavanaugh Confirmation Hearings

As these things often go, the aftermath of a political figure’s passing brings along with it varying opinions about the person, debates over their legacy, and speculation as to who will take their place if they still happen to be holding office.

That has certainly been the case since news broke early Sunday morning that Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), whose first Senate term began in January 2003, had passed away Saturday night “from a brief and sudden illness.”

Graham, who had just gotten back from a Friday meeting in Ukraine with its president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, was 71.

One of the things Republicans and Democrats alike will most remember Graham for was his powerful defense of then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, and his blistering criticisms of Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats, during the highly contentious confirmation hearings for Kavanaugh in the fall of 2018.

Total war was declared on Kavanaugh, as Democrats were growing increasingly terrified that more conservative justices to the court would result in the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Relatedly, two senators on the committee, Kamala Harris (D-CA) and Cory Booker (D-NJ), were preparing to run for president and used the hearings to stage stunts and elevate their national profiles.

There were also the behind-the-scenes machinations of then-Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), which ultimately set the stage for the fiery speech Graham would later give during the hearings:

Senator Dianne Feinstein knew that a woman had sent a letter claiming the Kavanaugh assaulted her in high school, but Feinstein said nothing. Not during the hearings, not during her consultations with fellow Senators, not during her private interview with Kavanaugh.

Instead, after the confirmation hearings were closed and a committee vote ready, it was conveniently leaked to The Intercept and Buzzfeed that the letter existed, and that Feinstein had forwarded it to the FBI. Days later the accuser was revealed in a Washington Post interview and story to be Christine Blasey Ford.

The hearings were reconvened after that, in late September 2018, where the Democrats’ sham tactics were further exposed. Here’s the transcript of Graham giving Democrats on the committee absolute hell at the time as he questioned and vigorously defended Kavanaugh:

GRAHAM: Are you aware that at 9:23 on the night of July the 9th, the day you were nominated to the Supreme Court by President Trump, Senator Schumer said 23-minutes after your nomination, “I will oppose Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination with everything I have, I have (sic) a bipartisan — and I hope a bipartisan majority will do the same. The stakes are simply too high for anything less.” Well, if you weren’t aware of it, you are now.

Did you meet with Senator Dianne Feinstein on August 20th?

KAVANAUGH: I did meet with Senator Feinstein…

GRAHAM: Did you know that her staff had already recommended a lawyer to Dr. Ford?

KAVANAUGH: … I did not know that.

GRAHAM: Did you know that her and her staff had this — allegations for over 20 days?

KAVANAUGH: I did not know that at the time.

GRAHAM [looking at Democrat committee members]: If you wanted a FBI investigation, you could have come to us. What you want to do is destroy this guy’s life, hold this seat open and hope you win in 2020. You’ve said that, not me. You’ve got nothing to apologize for.

When you see Sotomayor and Kagan, tell them that Lindsey said hello because I voted for them. I would never do to them what you’ve done to this guy. This is the most unethical sham since I’ve been in politics. And if you really wanted to know the truth, you sure as hell wouldn’t have done what you’ve done to this guy.

[…]

GRAHAM: I cannot imagine what you and your family have gone through.

Boy, you all want power. God, I hope you never get it. I hope the American people can see through this sham. That you knew about it and you held it. You had no intention of protecting Dr. Ford; none.

She’s as much of a victim as you are. God, I hate to say it because these have been my friends. But let me tell you, when it comes to this, you’re looking for a fair process? You came to the wrong town at the wrong time, my friend.

He concluded with this:

GRAHAM: This is going to destroy the ability of good people to come forward because of this crap. Your high school yearbook — you have interacted with professional women all your life, not one accusation.

You’re supposed to be Bill Cosby when you’re a junior and senior in high school. And all of a sudden, you got over it. It’s been my understanding that if you drug women and rape them for two years in high school, you probably don’t stop.

Here’s my understanding, if you lived a good life people would recognize it, like the American Bar Association has, the gold standard. His integrity is absolutely unquestioned. He is the very circumspect in his personal conduct, harbors no biases or prejudices. He’s entirely ethical, is a really decent person. He is warm, friendly, unassuming. He’s the nicest person — the ABA.

The one thing I can tell you should be proud of — Ashley, you should be proud of this — that you raised a daughter who had the good character to pray for Dr. Ford.

To my Republican colleagues, if you vote no, you’re legitimizing the most despicable thing I have seen in my time in politics. You want this seat? I hope you never get it.

I hope you’re on the Supreme Court, that’s exactly where you should be. And I hope that the American people will see through this charade. And I wish you well. And I intend to vote for you and I hope everybody who’s fair-minded will.

Watch:

I disagreed with Senator Lindsey Graham on a number of issues, but this is how I am going to choose to remember him.

Fighting for the confirmation of Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Lindsey 2.0 was something else. RIP. pic.twitter.com/HI4D9Eazzw

— Thomas Hern (@ThomasMHern) July 12, 2026

Lindsey Graham is in full Chuck Norris mode over the #Kavanaugh smears. He's like a whole different person. #KavanaughHearings pic.twitter.com/sc8LqMyXUB

— Sister Toldjah 💙 (@sistertoldjah) October 2, 2018

In remarks President Trump gave Sunday morning, he talked about Graham’s “classic” Kavanaugh hearing moments:

.@POTUS on the late Sen. Lindsey Graham: "His moment on Brett Kavanaugh was one of the classics, I think, in the history of the Senate… I think that saved Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court ascension." https://t.co/zPxNxe7NYP pic.twitter.com/Kx60JvjMIx

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) July 12, 2026

Graham remained on fire for the remainder of the hearings, something we also saw with his no-holds-barred approach to the leftist agitators who followed him around to berate him over Kavanaugh:

Never forget Lindsey Graham’s amazing sense of humor—during the heated Kavanaugh confirmation fight:

Protester: Kavanaugh should take a polygraph.

Sen. Lindsey Graham: "Why don't we dunk him in water and see if he floats?" pic.twitter.com/ynTRuOavho

— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) July 12, 2026

This one in particular inspired thousands of memes:

I WITNESSED BASED LINDSEY GRAHAM IRL

Graham was walking to his car. Protesters followed him screaming that they would remove him from office.

Graham spins around & says: “Well, please move to South Carolina."

Then looks back at me & smiles.

Cryinghttps://t.co/3LuzaR6Adh pic.twitter.com/J8mI2X8b2u

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) October 5, 2018

This is how I will always remember Lindsey Graham. Right here … with the crazy woman screaming behind him.

It became a great 'meme' for us at Twitchy, and a reminder for me personally that you always smile at people who hate you.

Nothing makes them crazier.

RIP, Sir. 🐰 pic.twitter.com/qJLN7n9AN1

— The🐰FOO (@PolitiBunny) July 12, 2026

As a bonus clip, let us not forget this hilarious jab Graham took at Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) that same year, about two weeks after Kavanaugh was confirmed, amid questions that were persistently raised by Legal Insurrection and others, including President Trump, about Warren’s false claims of a Native American heritage:

“I will take a DNA test,” Graham said. “I’ve been told my grandmother may be part Cherokee Indian. It may be just talk. You will find out in a couple weeks…. I didn’t really think much about it. But [Warren] is less than .1 of 1 percent. I think can beat her.”

Lindsay Graham makes a mockery of Indians, says if he can “beat” Elizabeth Warren’s DNA test, he wants a casino. This is exactly why what she did was problematic. We’re now the butt of all new jokes. Thanks @SenWarren. pic.twitter.com/gNfvJNf4ug

— Meta AC – Ask Anything (@AC_NoChill) October 16, 2018

RIP, Sen. Graham.

– Stacey Matthews has also written under the  pseudonym “Sister Toldjah” and can be reached via X. –

Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.