President Donald Trump remembered Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) as a “beloved friend” and a “true American original” before veering off-script over a claim about the late senator’s bipartisan popularity.
At a Tuesday memorial service at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., Trump recalled many of Graham’s legislative accomplishments in a prewritten eulogy that lasted a little more than 14 minutes.
“For more than 30 years, nothing of consequence happened without Lindsey Graham knowing about it,” the president said before a crowd of mourners that included Vice President JD Vance, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “Nothing of significance happened anywhere in the world without Lindsey Graham having a view on it, and no bill became law in the most exceptional republic in human history without Lindsey Graham having a say in it.”
“He was a man who gave America the full measure of his good and mighty heart,” Trump continued, “until that heart itself just gave out.”
Trump’s speech, however, took an unexpected turn when it came to a pointed remark about Graham’s likability on both sides of the political aisle.
“Virtually everyone, Republican or Democrat, liked Lindsey,” Trump read, before reacting with his own unfiltered commentary.
“Well, not everybody, but it sounds good. Not everybody,“ the president added. “He was a tough cookie, OK? I have to be— veer from this for a second.”
“He was a tough cookie, Darline,” he continued, addressing Graham’s sister, Sen. Darline Graham (R-S.C.). “But he was beautiful.”
Lindsey Graham died July 11 at age 71. The cause was aortic dissection due to arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease.
While he had initially been an outspoken critic of Trump, he became one of the president’s closest allies in the Senate over time. According to an Axios report, the two men last spoke over the phone just hours before Graham’s death.
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In a conversation that aired on NBC’s “Meet the Press” earlier this month, Trump recalled his final chat with Graham, which took place shortly after the senator had returned from a trip to Ukraine.
At the time, Graham sounded “a little tired, but perfect,” Trump said. As for the subject of their conversation, the president noted, “He called, and he said, ‘We’re all set for the SAVE America Act.’ He was pushing the SAVE America Act like crazy,” referring to the strict voter eligibility legislation that is a political priority for Trump.
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) appointed Darline Graham on Monday to serve out the remainder of her late brother’s term, set to end in January 2027.
“I know I’m a hard worker. I learned that from Lindsey,” she later told Fox News. “He cared about the people of this state. I’ve worked for almost 30 years for the people of this state. I feel like I can do it. I feel an inner peace about it. Will it be difficult? Yes.”