Lindsey Graham, longtime supporter of former President Trump and member of US Senate, passes away at 71

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Senator Lindsey Graham, an influential ally of President Donald Trump and advocate of hawkish US foreign policy, has died unexpectedly aged 71, his office said on Sunday.

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Graham was a staunch supporter of the Iran war, and in recent years urged both Trump and the Biden administrations to back Kyiv’s fight against Russia’s invasion.

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He bitterly opposed Trump a decade ago, but came around to support him.

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Graham did so even after the 2021 Capitol insurrection in which lawmakers feared for their lives as a pro-Trump mob ran amok at the seat of US democracy.

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The Republican senator from South Carolina’s office said in a statement on his official X account that he “passed away from a brief and sudden illness” on Saturday evening.

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NBC News reported that emergency services responded to a call for cardiac arrest at Graham’s Capitol Hill home on Saturday night, according to police scanner audio obtained by NBC and other outlets.

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Graham had been scheduled to appear Sunday morning on the NBC news talk show “Meet the Press.”

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Trump paid tribute to Graham on that same show, calling him a natural-born, hard-working politician who was skilled at dealing with people from both major US parties.

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“He’s a tough one to lose. He was great. He was unique in every way, actually,” Trump said by telephone.

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Trump said they had spoken only just Saturday evening as Graham returned from a trip to Ukraine sounding tired, and they made tentative plans to meet on Sunday.

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“It could have been his last call,” Trump said.

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Graham made a failed bid for the presidency in 2016, warning at the time that Republicans should not back Trump because he was a “race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot.”

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Their relationship was again strained by the January 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection, with Graham saying his Republican colleagues should “count me out, enough is enough” — although he later voted against convicting Trump in his impeachment trial.

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Graham reconciled their relationship and backed his re-election bid.

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– ‘A great friend of Israel’ –

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Graham was also a strong supporter of Israel and the Iran war.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “Lindsey is a great friend of Israel and a cherished friend of mine.”

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“Lindsey understood that the security of Israel and America are inseparable. He devoted his life to defending America, strengthening our alliance and standing up for the free world,” Netanyahu said.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was deeply saddened by the death of Graham, whom he met in Kyiv as recently as Friday.

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“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,” Zelensky said in a Facebook post.

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Graham had recently won a primary election to seek a fourth Senate term in the November midterms.

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South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster will have to appoint a successor for the remaining months of Graham’s term while another primary will need to be held.

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– Foreign policy hawk –

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Graham’s death comes as the weeks-long hospitalization of former Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell rattles the party.

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Republicans hold a narrow 53-47 majority in the Senate, with little room for missing votes or defections. McConnell was admitted to hospital last month and has not voted since June 11.

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Graham was first elected to the US House of Representatives in 1994, before being elected to the Senate in 2002.

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He was re-elected to the Senate in 2008, 2014 and 2020 and most recently served as chairman of the Senate Budget Committee.

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Raised in the town of Central, South Carolina, where his parents ran a restaurant and pool hall, Graham was the first in his family to go to college, according to his biography on the Senate website.

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He served as a military lawyer and attained the rank of Air Force colonel, an experience that informed his interventionist stance in foreign affairs.

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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.

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Graham was a frequent critic of President Barack Obama’s foreign policy, calling him a “weak opponent of evil” in 2015 over his negotiation of a nuclear deal with Iran.

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