Sudden and awful news about Senator Lindsey Graham.
The United States Senate lost a foreign policy giant. On a personal level, he had always been kind, gracious, and thoughtful.
Gisele and I extend our deepest condolences to his family, friends, and staff.
At the end of a particularly thrilling and rollicking meeting in the Oval Office, Lindsey Graham turned to the room and said: “I’ve never had this much fun in my life.”
I cannot describe to you how much joy President Trump’s leadership and friendship brought to Lindsey. Meetings with Graham at the White House were filled with camaraderie, kinship and uproarious laughter.
As heartbreaking as his sudden passing is, I hope it will bring some measure of comfort to those who cherished him to know just how much he was living his dream every day. Very rarely in life do you get to be exactly where you want to be, when you want to be there, with who you want to be with, doing precisely what you want to do — that was every moment for Lindsey.
When President Trump won in Nov 2024, Lindsey was exultant. Elated. And determined. He couldn’t wait to spearhead work, as the Budget Chairman, on the reconciliation bill that would cement President Trump’s most important campaign promises. I’ll never forget the senate lunch, when a couple Senators were a tad off the program, and Lindsey — in his inimitable way — made sure everyone was onside by the time we left. It was a glorious thing to witness. He knew how to move a room.
Lindsey was a senator’s senator. The job was everything to him. Truly did he believe in the splendor of the office and the noble lineage behind it, of which he was the worthy heir.
He was a senator in the mold of those who fashioned the institution, someone who still had the ability, in a heated exchange, to use rhetorical power to change the course of events.
Which is why we will never forget his legendary Kavanaugh moment. We rarely think that we are out of time with our friends, so while there is a lot more I wish I could have said to Lindsey, I am glad that more than once I told him what that moment meant to the whole nation and why he was the only Senator who could have done it with such utter perfection.
Most importantly, I had the chance to tell him on many occasions what his friendship meant to me and to us all. There was never once a time he didn’t answer a phone call and lend whatever assistance was required. It was never a question with Lindsey. He believed deeply in the code of friendship and loyalty.
The fact that Lindsey started out as a political opponent only to become one the President’s most steadfast and faithful supporters underscores that Lindsey believed emphatically in the voice of the people.
There is a lot more I would like to say. His passing, at a time when he had never been more dynamic, is as unexpected as it is shocking. In many respects, Lindsey was the last of a breed of American Senator whose like we may not yet see again for a long time.
He lived every minute in the arena, a political gladiator to the very last.
More than anything now, our thoughts are with his Sister, nieces and loved ones.
We pray that God will ease their sorrow and heal their pain.
Lindsey can never be replaced and will never be forgotten.
Godspeed, my friend.
Of my colleagues, none have been able to frustrate and anger, amuse and engage me in a single conversation the way Lindsey could. We travelled the world together, and while we disagreed fiercely on many policy issues, he was both wonderfully complicated and a positive and tireless partner on the bills we led together.
Just this past week, we traveled to the NATO summit and had dinner together to celebrate his birthday. We were brainstorming ideas for how we could continue to legislate together, and it’s painful to consider that I won’t get that chance.
I will deeply miss him, his humor, his global view, and his tireless optimism. Annie and I are keeping his family, including his beloved sister Darline, in our prayers.
South Carolina lost a statesman and I’ve lost a friend.
My prayers are with his sister and the rest of his family.
From his humble beginnings to the Senate floor, Lindsey always led with faith, family, and South Carolina first.
Lindsey remained committed to public service and doing what he loved. He always introduced levity and brought wit to the most challenging moments.
Lindsey will be missed.
To my old colleague and friend @LindseyGrahamSC , you were a loud advocate and force for our country; for political relationships focused on problem solving; for freedom and democracy around the globe; and for your friends - proud to have been one..rest in peace Lindsey!!
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Happy 250th birthday to the best country on earth! I was reading a book the other day and was struck by this paragraph. I don’t know who the author was but I thought it was brilliant and perfectly said…🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
For those of us who need a bit of levity in life, this news blooper will leave you laughing. Someone in the control room probably wet his pants pulling this stunt on the anchors!