Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) brushed off a suggestion to seek out medical attention just hours before his unexpected death on Saturday, according to a new report.
Journalist Barak Ravid on Monday published an Axios report that included brief but notable details about Graham’s final moments. In it, he cites a source close to Graham who said the late senator “complained that he was feeling unwell” not long after getting off the phone with President Donald Trump earlier that evening.
“When the person urged him to seek medical attention immediately, Graham said he would do so Sunday morning after his scheduled appearance on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press,’” Ravid wrote in his report.
The 71-year-old also followed up with a morbid joke, telling the source, “I can’t die now. I still need to do the Russia sanctions, get Iran sorted out and do Israeli-Saudi normalization.” He died several hours later.
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Graham’s office publicly confirmed his death in a statement early Sunday, noting that the cause was aortic dissection due to arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease.
In a conversation on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Trump said Graham had called him on Saturday night after returning from a trip to Ukraine and had “sounded a little tired, but perfect” during their conversation.
“He called and he said, ‘We’re all set for the SAVE America Act.’ He was pushing the SAVE America Act like crazy,” the president told the outlet, referring to the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act.
Later, Trump added, “It couldn’t have been much longer. It could have been his last call.”
Known for his hawkish foreign policy, Graham went from being an outspoken critic of Trump to one of the president’s closest allies in the Senate.
At Trump’s suggestion, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) on Monday appointed Graham’s younger sister, Darline Graham Nordone, to serve out the remainder of her late brother’s term, set to end in January 2027.
“Lindsey has always been there for me, and now I will be there for him,” Graham Nordone said. “I think this is what Lindsey would have wanted, and I plan to honor him in this way.”