TMZ published multiple photos of Senator Lindsey Graham at Disney World this weekend, angering the public amid multiple national crises. The tabloid gained praise after putting out a call for shots of Congress members on vacation while the government shutdown drags on and oil prices skyrocket.
It's not a magical world for most right now.
It's a small world after all, Lindsey Graham
On Monday, TMZ posted five photos of South Carolina Senator Graham living it up at Florida's Disney World park. In the first of two articles, he's hanging around with a bubble wand in the Tangled section and enjoying brunch at Chef Mickey's. Later, someone grabbed two photos of him in line for Space Mountain.
The senator told TMZ that he was in Florida for a brief meeting with Trump officials and took an allegedly short excursion to the magical kingdom to meet up with friends on Friday.
"I voted 7 times to fully fund the government," he said. "Call a Democrat."
House Republicans rejected a Senate deal to end the shutdown and fully fund the government, including TSA paychecks, on Friday. The prolonged battle was causing so much chaos at major U.S. airports, with lines lasting four hours or more, that President Donald Trump had to issue an executive order to pay TSA agents.
Airport wait times appear to be better as of Monday, but rising gas prices and fears over the Iran War persist. The shutdown at the Strait of Hormuz threatens global supply lines and could have lasting consequences for gas and grocery prices, both of which are already too high, according to most Americans.
Nobody wants to see any member of Congress at Disney World when there's important work to be done. That's why TMZ asked for photos like those of Graham, who can't finger-point his way out of this one.
"And Donald Trump went golfing again"
Public figures on both sides of the aisle condemned Graham for his whimsical fun while the rest of us fret, with many pointing out that he doesn't even have kids, let alone grandkids. The right seems particularly incensed and fixated on the childless detail.
"Why is a gay, childless, septuagenarian walking around Disney solo?" asked far-right journalist Nick Sortor. "Especially while carrying a child’s toy."
"This is disturbing."
Rumors of Graham's sexuality remain unconfirmed, and being gay has nothing to do with any of this.
"While our country is at war, our airports are a mess, DHS is not funded, and our elections are not secure, Lindsey Graham is wandering around Disney World with a bubble wand," wrote self-described theocratic fascist Matt Walsh. "This is an image that should live in infamy."
Popular left-wing X user @mattxiv, meanwhile, reposted a TMZ photo and called Graham "the man demanding your children die for Israel."
"And Donald Trump went golfing again this weekend," wrote Democratic Party chair Ken Martin.
"These guys have no idea what American families are going through right now, and they don’t care."
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