Karen Tumulty

Karen Tumulty joins the Politics & Government desk as Chief Political Correspondent - The Washington Post washingtonpost.com/pr/2025/07/23/…

Graham said his evolution on Trump was based on acceptance, not opportunism. “I said he was a xenophobic, race-baiting religious bigot,” he told CBS in 2018. “Well, the American people spoke, and they rejected my analysis.” via @ktumulty washingtonpost.com/obituaries/202…

Unexpectedly this morning, I found myself having to write this obituary: Lindsey Graham, foreign policy hawk and Trump’s critic turned ally, dies at 71 wapo.st/4vmHCTB

Weekend X is the worst X.

@isaiah_bb It's not a new thing. Not a new thing at all. For decades, political operatives have been turning themselves into celebrities.

Going after the campaign staff seems to be the new thing, and I can only imagine it’s going to get worse.

@PKanobi @washingtonpost It’s much more than that, as the article explains with great clarity. I believe I posted a gift link.

@ktumulty @washingtonpost I can't read the article. However I believe the difference is simple. Dems want precisely what the DS want but can't say so because US politics is terrified of the word Socialism. Though it is primarily a system of helping those in need with the taxes from those who are rich.🤷‍♀️

Want to know how mainstream Dems and democratic socialists differ on the issues? Useful and clarifying piece from Steve Thompson and the @washingtonpost -- wapo.st/44UexUG

@mattyglesias Possibly, but if so, it will come in November.

So … is there gonna be pressure on Ken Paxton to quit the race? 😂

Outsized? Appears to have been allocated by population (and Democratic registration), which is sensible and how party conventions work. maine-demographics.com/counties_by_po…

Democratic Party fissures are shaping Michigan’s crucial Senate primary wapo.st/3Try7VR

Talked to @ktumulty about what we can learn from the Platner situation and how we should stop attacking other voters and their motives. Not the way to win an election. washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/…

What Graham Platner’s rise and unraveling reveal about the politics of 2026 wapo.st/4aHn0y2

"The DSCC will not invest in the Maine Senate race if Platner remains on the ballot."

Some of Graham Platner's top backers, as well as the Maine Democratic Party, called on him to end his Senate campaign and rescinded endorsements on Monday after he was accused of sexual assault by a woman he previously dated. washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/…

What? No memes of Marco Rubio suited up as an oyster farmer?

More: "Her campaign, though ahead in Democratic primary polls, still feels like a shoestring operation. It is headquartered over her dentist husband's office in Lansing, and one recent day on the trail found Whitmer's 15-year-old daughter chalking up driver's education hours by ferrying the candidate to campaign events."

@bradlapgov The establishment lined up behind her after better known possibilities took a pass on the race. From my story: Yet Whitmer remains largely unknown to most Michigan voters, nearly two-thirds of whom did not recognize her name in a recent Detroit Free Press survey.

I mean no offense, but it is annoying to hear this from people who do not live in the state. In 2018, Whitmer was a very strong candidate. She had the Dem establishment behind her, huge name recognition and a massive fundraising advantage. El-Sayed was a 33-year-old, virtually unknown, first-time candidate. Whitmer was polling at +20 on average and won +21. The fact that he's tied or ahead at this point signals Dem voters have at least moved slightly. You can argue whether a progressive would underperform a moderate in a 2026 statewide election, but using a rhetorically loaded stat like "but she won every county" is purposefully misleading. I'm speculating, but any Democrat would've likely been positioned to win the 2018 governor's race, including El-Sayed, given what we know about how Democrats performed across the country.

The greatest ex we ever had 😢

From @danbalz's Substack column: open.substack.com/pub/danbalz/p/…

Doesn't mention that one of the two won the Nobel Peace Prize: “The parallels between Theodore Roosevelt and President Trump just keep adding up and up and up,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, the former governor of North Dakota, said on Fox News on Tuesday. wapo.st/3STTnDt