I think he means it. He even says he’ll come back to Fox to reveal the results. Either he’s going the extra mile to ingratiate himself to Trump or that rare taste of approval he got from the right-wing base during the Kavanaugh wars left him craving more.

Before you know it he’ll be making up his own juvenile nicknames for political opponents.

It’s a clever gimmick, though. Not only would it underscore how weak Warren’s claim to native ancestry is if Graham “beats” her, it’ll leave liberals in the awkward position of either abandoning Warren on this point or grudgingly admitting that if she’s native, Graham — and likely lots of other dastardly white patriarchal right-wingers — are too. Just one wrinkle: What if his test comes back showing that he’s actually less Native American than Warren is? That would help her save face after yesterday’s disaster by letting her claim that she’s at least a smidgen more native than her Republican antagonists are.

Graham doubtless views it as a low-risk gamble, though. After all, it’s basically impossible to be less Native American than Elizabeth Warren.

I’m starting the clip a few minutes early to give you his comments on Saudi Arabia and the Khashoggi affair as well. He made news here by saying that he enthusiastically supports sanctions against the Kingdom with the aim of driving Mohammed bin Salman from power. I appreciate that he and his fellow superhawk, Marco Rubio, are willing to stake the U.S.-Saudi relationship on human rights but it’s impossible to watch them finger-wag and not feel confused as to why Khashoggi’s apparent murder is their red line with the Kingdom. After decades of SA as an incubator of international Salafism and oppressor of everyone inside its own borders who isn’t Muslim and male, this was the final straw for Graham and Rubio? Not even the months of bombing Yemenis, with help from the U.S.?

Contra their attempt to project resolve, watching the superhawks finally get indignant at the Saudis over a media cause celebre leaves one with the impression that they’re being led around by the nose by the press in their priorities. (There’s a lesson there for reporters, too. More of an outcry over the Yemen campaign might have prompted this reckoning sooner.) Meanwhile, if Salman’s really worried about the U.S. distancing itself he should simply pick a fight with the local U.S. enemy, Iran. That’ll bring Rubio and Graham back into the Saudi fold quick-like.