The MAGA assimilation test: Why Rubio passed and Graham failed
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Want to figure out how to win over MAGA? Take two former Senate colleagues as an instructive case study.
- Sen. Lindsey Graham's (R-S.C.) recent trip to Ukraine infuriated MAGA, which has placed a target on his back despite his close friendship with President Trump.
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio hails from similarly hawkish roots. But he's moved squarely into the camp of MAGA favorites.
Why it matters: Understanding why Graham is still seen as an outsider — and how Rubio made it inside the tent — offers a roadmap for Republicans trying to thrive in a MAGA-dominated GOP.
- Trump may have run his last race, but MAGA is here to stay — and few Republicans have spotless records when it comes to commentary on Trump or his ideology.
Behind the scenes: Conversations with sources in MAGA media and the movement at large reveal a consistent perception of the two senior Republican figures.
- After Trump locked up the presidential nomination in 2016, both Graham and Rubio benefited from efforts to develop personal relationships with the new GOP king-maker.
- But Graham never shook his neoconservative instincts — especially on foreign policy — and MAGA noticed. Rubio, by contrast, listened, adapted, and sold himself as a convert.
- "Rubio clearly thought about this stuff, formulated a plan to address it and then communicated that plan," said one senior right-wing media figure. "Graham just went about business as usual in Washington."
Flashback: In Trump's first term, Graham took massive heat from liberals for cozying up to the man who had humiliated him in 2016, trashed his close friend John McCain, and threw out decades of foreign policy that drove Graham's raison d'etre in Washington.
Zoom in: Throughout it all, Graham never fully embraced Trumpism. He bonded with Trump personally, not philosophically.
- In 2017, Graham advocated for Congress to grant a pathway to citizenship for undocumented "Dreamers" brought to the U.S. as children in exchange for border security measures.
- Earlier this year, Graham pushed for U.S.-backed Israeli military strikes on Iran to destroy its nuclear program.
- Then in late May, he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky — flashing a thumbs up with a leader so reviled in MAGA circles that conspiracy theories of Nazism and cocaine use are commonplace online.
What they're saying: "Lindsey Graham may actually represent one of the last times that a senator could actually be so flagrantly flippant about public perception on the right," The National Pulse's Raheem Kassam told Axios.
- "I think the trend is towards, not against, populism. And somebody like Graham really is a dinosaur now."
Between the lines: Rubio took a different tack — gradually aligning himself with MAGA positions over time.
- After Trump's election in 2016, Rubio — a longtime immigration reformer in the Senate — was an early supporter of the border wall.
- In early 2024, despite his record of hostility toward Russia as an influential member of the Foreign Relations and Intelligence committees, Rubio voted against another foreign aid package to Ukraine.
- And after voting to certify the 2020 election results, he refused to commit to doing the same in 2024.
The intrigue: Rubio's evolution has played out in full public view.
- The former senator honed his MAGA fluency as a fixture on both cable news and Trump-aligned platform like Steve Bannon's "War Room."
- As a top Trump official, he's become adept at picking the right enemies nd fights — from China to pro-Palestinian green-card holders to Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), with whom he had a viral showdown last month.
- "There's this sense that Rubio's just come of age, and he's comfortable in his own skin," a second senior MAGA media figure said. "The version of Rubio that that was out of step with the base was much younger, had not paid his dues nearly as much. And he's just come around."
Yes, but: That doesn't mean Graham is reviled or irrelevant. He's still close to Trump and constantly heaps praise the president — a relationship that earns him some forgiveness.
- "Sen. Graham has supported President Trump from the beginning and has been a loyal ally in the Senate fighting for the America First agenda," said Alex Latcham, the head of Senate Republicans' super PAC and a Trump campaign alum.
- "President Trump and Sen. Graham remain united in their commitment to keeping Americans safe and prosperous, and anyone who suggests otherwise is attempting to advance a false reality."
The bottom line: For lawmakers who weren't born in the movement but want a future in it, the lessons are clear: Evolve on personality and policy — and sell it like you mean it.
