US Senator Lindsey Graham. (Photo: Jim Watson/AFP)
The prominent US senator Lindsey Graham, an important ally of pres. Donald Trump is dead.
The Republican senator from South Carolina’s office said on Sunday in a statement on his official X account that he “passed away after a short and sudden illness” on Saturday evening.
Graham turned 71 on Thursday.
NBC News reports that emergency services were called to Graham’s Capitol Hill home on Saturday night. The emergency services apparently received a call about a “cardiac arrest”.
Trump paid tribute to the influential senator on Sunday, calling him “one of the most wonderful people” in a post on his Truth Social website.
“Senator Lindsey Graham, one of the most wonderful people and senators I knew, is dead! He was always on the job, and was a true American patriot. Lindsey will be greatly missed!”
Pres. Donald Trump and senator Lindsey Graham. (Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP)
The tribute comes despite the fact that Graham made a failed bid for the presidency in 2016, warning at the time that Republicans should not support Trump because he would be a “racially inflammatory, xenophobic, religiously intolerant” person.
Trump and Graham’s working relationship was put under further pressure when supporters of Trump stormed the US Congress building on January 6, 2021. “Shut me out. Enough is enough,” Graham told his Republican colleagues – although he later voted against convicting Trump in Trump’s impeachment trial.
However, Trump and Graham reconciled after Trump returned to office. Graham supported Trump’s re-election.
Graham was best known for his foreign policy work.
He was a strong supporter of Israel and the war against Iran. He has also in recent years urged both the Trump and Biden administrations to support Ukraine’s fight against Russia.
“Lindsey is a good friend of Israel and a cherished friend of mine,” Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, said on Sunday.
“Lindsey understood that the security of Israel and the US are inseparable. He dedicated his life to defending America, strengthening our alliance and standing up for the free world,” Netanyahu said in a statement issued by his office on Sunday.
Israel’s pres. Isaac Herzog expressed his shock at Graham’s death on Sunday.
“Senator Graham was a beacon of moral clarity and a true leader of the US-Israel partnership,” Herzog said in a post on X.
Pres. Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenski also said he was deeply saddened by Graham’s death. Zelenski and Graham met in Kiev as recently as Friday.
Senator Lindsey Graham spoke with pres. Met Volodymyr Zelenski of Ukraine. (Photo: Ukrainian Presidency/AFP)
“He visited Ukraine ten times during the years of Russia’s full-scale invasion and was here with our people when it was most needed… America and the world have lost a determined leader,” Zelenski said in a Facebook post on Sunday.
Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, applauded Graham’s fight to support Ukraine and called him a “determined and fearless leader”.
Graham was first elected to the US House of Representatives in 1994, before being elected to the Senate in 2002.
He was later re-elected to the senate in 2008, 2014 and 2020 and recently served as chairman of the senate budget committee.
Henry McMaster, the governor of South Carolina, described Graham as “irreplaceable”.
“The fiercest fighter for South Carolina and America – and a loyal and steadfast friend,” McMaster said on X on Sunday.
Graham was the first in his family to attend college, according to his biography on the U.S. Senate website.
He served as a military lawyer and attained the rank of Air Force colonel.
In 2002, he voted in favor of military action against Iraq in the wake of the September 11 attacks, and later supported a long-term US presence in Afghanistan.
Graham was a frequent critic of pres. Barack Obama’s foreign policy and called him a “weak adversary of evil” in 2015 because of his then-negotiations on a nuclear deal with Iran.