#sycophant

Republican and MAGA suck up speaker of the house Mike Johnson pulls this kind of shit...

and I bet you MAGA are happy with it.

Christian Kunz 

This is Thom Tillis.

He is the Senior Republican Senator from North Carolina.

This is what he posted yesterday on social media:

"A sycophant is more than just a "yes-man."

It refers to someone who acts excessively servile toward someone important in order to gain an advantage. They aren't just being nice, they are using excessive flattery, often insincerely, to get what they want, whether that's a promotion, social status or favor.

Some characteristics: The motive is self-interest. They aren't praising you because they like you; they're doing it because you have something they want. The behavior is over the top fawning, or constant agreement (including when you're wrong).

Common Synonyms: toady, flunky, bootlicker.

Some parallels for movie buffs:

Grima Wormtongue (the Stephen Miller of Lord of the Rings) is an advisor to King Theoden. He uses whispers and false flattery to control the King’s decisions, all while secretly serving Saruman. He is a classic example of a sycophant who uses his position to poison a leader's standing for his own benefit.

Dolores Umbridge (the Kristi Noem of Harry Potter) is an example of a bureaucratic sycophant. She is terrifyingly sweet while she is around those she considers her superiors and she sucks up to authority to gain the power she needs to bully those "beneath" her."

— Veteran political strategist James Carville in conversation with Ari Melber at MS NOW.

The word pretzel is quite a good one to describe Graham's frequent contortions.