Just before his death, Senator Lindsey Graham returned from Kyiv, where he had met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

It was a fitting final foreign trip. Graham had long been one of America’s strongest advocates for Ukraine against Russia and for Israel against Iran and its proxies.

Then he died suddenly.

Sometimes, sudden death is simply that. But conspiracy theories rarely leave a vacuum unfilled.

The first kind of conspiracy theory follows ordinary logic. It begins with motive.

If someone believes Lindsey Graham was murdered, the obvious suspects would be the governments whose interests he spent years opposing: Russia or Iran, or some combined efforts by both. Perhaps it was an American anti-war agitator. Whether true or false, at least the theory follows a recognizable chain of reasoning.

The second kind works very differently.

It begins with a worldview that history is shaped by hidden forces operating behind governments and public events. Facts are gathered afterward to support that assumption.

For centuries, one of the most enduring versions of that worldview has been antisemitic: the claim that Jews secretly manipulate governments, wars, finance, or the media. The alleged hidden actor changes with the era, but the underlying story remains remarkably consistent.

That helps explain why some recent conspiracy theories about the murder of Charlie Kirk have implicated Israel or Mossad where the alleged motive is counterintuitive. The target is chosen less because of the evidence than because it fits an existing narrative about hidden power.

One conspiracy theory asks, “Who had the motive?” The other asks, “Who do I already believe secretly runs the world?”

The first can be tested against evidence, the second is designed to survive it.

Today’s front pages will convey that a strong advocate of American allies’ defense against common American foes has died. He will be mourned by conservatives in the United States and supporters of Ukraine and Israel. In the not too distant future in our crazy conspiratorial-laden present, new distinct strains of headlines are likely to emerge.