As the United States and Israel attacked Iran in early 2026, social media users resurfaced an apparent quote from U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, who allegedly said he felt good about the state of the Republican Party and the nation because "We're killing all the right people."
The rumor spread on Instagram, X and Facebook. Many posts included a clip of Graham's alleged comments.
As we previously confirmed, the clip was real. Graham said the aforementioned quote at the Republican Jewish Coalition Annual Leadership Summit on Oct. 31, 2025, per a video the coalition posted on YouTube of Graham's full remarks (see 7:44).
We have rated this quote a correct attribution.
Graham's speech largely focused on support for Israel amid the country's war in Gaza.
Since militant group Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and capture of Israeli hostages, Israel's offensive has killed more than 72,000 Palestinians and displaced an estimated 90% of Gaza's population in what a United Nations commission declared a genocide. According to a September news release from global humanitarian association Save the Children, over 20,000 children have been killed.
While a U.S.-brokered ceasefire officially took effect in October 2025, Palestinians have consistently accused Israel of near-daily violations. Israeli military operations killed more than 600 Palestinians between the start of the ceasefire and March 11, 2026. Israel also has accused Hamas of violating the terms of the ceasefire by "planning" to attack troops and not returning bodies that Hamas has said are buried under rubble.
Graham repeatedly referenced killing terrorists and Hamas militants before he said, "We're killing all the right people." His office did not return an inquiry asking the senator to clarify whether he believed "killing all the right people" included Gaza's children and adult civilians.
Here's a transcript of excerpts focused on Israel and Hamas from the back half of his speech starting at the four-minute mark, with the quote about killing the "right people" in bold:
We have no better friend than the state of Israel. Everybody who wants to destroy the Jewish state wants to kill us too. I've been to Israel a bunch. No one has ever said 'death to America' while I've been there. They don't wanna buy me a beer, but nobody says, 'death to America.' All the terrorists you're killing, Ron [Dermer, Israel's minister of strategic affairs], is one less terrorist that can get here.
Common values and common enemies. And if you don't get that, you should not be allowed to drive. So what to do about Hamas? Kill them off. [Laughs]
[Applause]
Kill them off.
You know why I don't have a pet tiger? There is no such thing as a pet tiger. Remember Siegfried and Roy? We're down to Siegfried. So, they had the tigers and they loved the tigers, and apparently, the tigers, they thought, loved them. They had Cleo, their favorite tiger. He lived at the house, they were teaching him to drive. And one night, for some unknown reason, he ate Roy. He's a tiger. [Laughs]
Hamas is dedicated to the destruction of the Jewish state. They're dedicated to killing everybody who disagrees with them religiously in their own faith. And they're never gonna change. So let's get on with it. Let's make sure they can't survive and do October the 7th.
Now, I'm glad we got the hostages back. God bless that deal. I'm glad we got a ceasefire, but I'm worried Hamas is not going to play the game the way we thought they would. If you're shocked they're shooting people in the streets, you missed a lot of what they did before they got the ceasefire. I just think, give Israel some time. But there'll come a point, Ron, where we gotta just end this thing. There is no pathway forward in the Middle East as long as Hamas is around. Get them out.
[…]
Let's finish Hamas off, one way or the other.
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[U.S. President Donald Trump] recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Why? Because if you got a problem with that, take it up with God. He's the guy who did it, not Trump.
So I just want to say, I feel good about the Republican Party. I feel good about where we're going as a nation. We're killing all the right people, and we're cutting your taxes.
[Laughter and applause]
Trump is my favorite president. We ran out of bombs. We didn't run out of bombs in World War II.
So, as a coalition of Republicans, some Baptist, some Jewish, we organize ourselves around principles that we love and we cherish. We love individual freedom, we love entrepreneurship. We love capitalism. We love Israel. We love the idea of Israel. We love the struggle they've been involved in. We love them — helping them because you're helping yourself. So to those who worry about these stupid interviews and far-off places, don't worry. The Republican Party has figured it out when it comes to Israel. We understand that Israel is a friend of America to the bitter end. We understand that God blesses those who bless Israel.
Snopes has previously reported on various comments made by Graham, including a real joke he made about supporting Trump as the next pope.