Lindsey Graham death latest: Trump mourns staunch ally with bizarre Truth Social posts as vicious past insults resurface

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South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, a staunch ally of President Donald Trump, passed away suddenly over the weekend in a catastrophic medical emergency linked to heart disease, according to a preliminary report.

Tributes to the the influential conservative, 71, have been led by Trump, who hailed him as a “tough cookie” and posted a picture of him wearing a spoof Iran cap on Truth Social.

The pair were not always close and some of Graham’s past insults against the president have resurfaced in the wake of his passing. In 2015, for instance, he called Trump “a race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot,” a “kook” and “unfit for office.”

A long-time foreign policy hawk, Graham’s death was announced early Sunday just after he had returned from a trip to Ukraine to meet President Volodymyr Zelensky and express U.S. support for his nation’s fightback against Russia.

Just five days later, paramedics were called to the four-term senator’s Washington home Saturday evening in response to a suspected cardiac arrest.

The District of Columbia’s Medical Examiner subsequently concluded that his cause of death had been a ruptured aorta arising from the hardening of the arteries as a consequence of arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

Trump says he knows who should replace Lindsey Graham. Here’s how his Senate seat will be filled

Republicans only have a three seat-majority in the Senate (53 to 47) and are hoping to hold onto their slim advantage in November’s midterms to ensure Trump’s final two years as president are not spent as a lame duck under investigation.

Graham had been running for re-election in South Carolina and seemed all but assured to win but his passing now opens the door to a potentially chaotic primary.

Asked about a replacement on Meet the Press yesterday, Trump said: “I have somebody that I think would be great.

“But I don’t want to say it now because, you know, it’s too soon with Lindsey. I don’t want to even talk about anybody. But I do have somebody that I think is really good.”

Joe Sommerlad13 July 2026 12:00

Watch: Iranian state TV gloats over Graham’s death

This was how the late Republican’s passing was covered in Tehran.

Joe Sommerlad13 July 2026 11:30

Graham was in Kyiv Friday championing tighter U.S. sanctions against Russia

The late senator visited Ukraine late last week and looked perfectly well as he met with President Volodymyr Zelensky, advocating continued American support against the Russian invasion just days after Trump had met with Zelensky at NATO’s summit in Turkey.

Graham was booked for Meet the Press. Trump jumped in after he died for revealing interview

President Donald Trump appeared Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press as well as CNN’s State of the Union to pay tribute to Sen. Lindsey Graham.

The president made the last-minute arrangement to call into the program after Graham’s death was announced just after 2 a.m. Sunday.

Graham was originally slated to appear as one of the program’s guests this wee, and made frequent appearances on the show over the decades.

NBC’s Kristen Welker, the program’s moderator, noted that it was to be Graham’s 64th appearance on the show Sunday.

Here’s more from John Bowden on Trump’s appearance.

Graig Graziosi13 July 2026 10:30

Trump on Graham’s past criticism of him: ‘He was a tough cookie’

Also speaking on CNN Sunday in tribute to the late senator, the president was asked about the South Carolinian’s past attacks on him, taking a forgiving attitude and saying Graham’s slings and arrows had come in the heat of battle and before they really knew each other.

Before throwing in with Trump’s MAGA movement, Graham was certainly unforgiving in his criticism.

Joe Sommerlad13 July 2026 10:10

Trump posts tribute to Graham wearing Iran cap and brandishing mock Wikipedia page

The president has remembered his old ally on Truth Social with a bizarre picture in which he wears a “Make Iran Great Again” cap supporting Operation Epic Fury.

He is holding up a mock-up of Trump’s Wikipedia page proclaiming him “Acting President of Venezuela” following January’s raid on Caracas to capture Nicolas Maduro.

(Donald J Trump/Truth Social)

In his initial response to the news, the president wrote: “Senator Lindsey Graham, one of the greatest people and Senators I have ever known, is dead! He was always working, and was a true American Patriot. Lindsey will be greatly missed!!!“

Joe Sommerlad13 July 2026 09:50

Watch: White House pays tribute to Lindsey Graham with half-mast flags

The late Republican’s passing is being mourned at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in the traditional manner.

White House pays tribute to Lindsey Graham with half-mast flags

Joe Sommerlad13 July 2026 09:30

Graham on Biden: ‘What’s not to like?’

Before aligning himself with Donald Trump, Graham shared his own kind words about Joe Biden, refusing to join in GOP attacks on the 46th president.

“If you can’t admire Joe Biden as a person, then you’ve got a problem,” Graham told The Huffington Post in a 2015 interview.

“You need to do some self-evaluation, because what’s not to like?”

More recently, he expressed his opposition to congressional Republicans investigating his old friend, breaking ranks in the name of friendship.

Joe Sommerlad13 July 2026 09:00

Joe Biden remembers Lindsey Graham: ‘We disagreed often, and sometimes loudly’

The former president remembered the late senator in an X post Sunday, saying he and former first lady Jill Biden were “shocked” by his death.

“Lindsey and I served together in Congress for over a decade, and worked closely on many issues throughout the years,” Biden wrote.

“We traveled the world together as members of the Senate Foreign Relations committee. We disagreed often, and sometimes loudly.”

Graig Graziosi13 July 2026 08:30

WATCH: See Lindsey Graham’s final public appearances before his deathSee Lindsey Graham’s final public appearances before his death

Graig Graziosi13 July 2026 07:45