Dies at 71 years old Senator Lindsey Graham, Trump ally, from a sudden illness
The legislator had shown himself very critical of Spain and had just returned from Ukraine
BarcelonaUS Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, one of Trump's most loyal allies, has died at the age of 71. The South Carolina legislator died after a "brief and sudden illness", his office posted on X early Sunday. According to NBC, emergency services received a call to respond to a cardiac arrest at his home.
His unexpected death puts an end to an intense political career marked by a complete metamorphosis: he went from being one of Trump's fiercest opponents to becoming one of his main allies in Congress and an advisor on foreign policy. In fact, Graham's activity had not stopped: the day before he died, he met in Kyiv with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, on what was his tenth visit to the country to address air defense needs and a new package of sanctions against Russia. The senator was scheduled to appear this Sunday morning on the well-known interview program Meet the Press.
Shortly after his death was announced, Trump called Graham "one of the best people and senators I have ever known" and a hard-working patriot. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also lamented his death and called the Republican legislator a "defender of freedom and the values that make our world a safer place". For his part, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lamented that "Israel has lost one of its best friends". "America has lost a great patriot. I have lost a dear friend," the statement added.
Graham was known for his hard-line and interventionist foreign policy stance (he strongly defended the Iraq and Afghanistan wars). In recent months, he had been highly critical of international allies who had denied aid to the United States to contain Iran. Spain was one of his main targets in these criticisms, after the Spanish government restricted the use of its airspace to the US military. In response, Graham "earnestly" recommended that Trump not leave the decision unanswered and even called for the withdrawal of US military bases in Spanish territory.
From critic to Trump ally
The senator's political trajectory took a turn regarding his stance on Donald Trump. During the 2016 campaign, in which he was one of the many Republicans who lost the presidential nomination to Trump, he posted on social media: "If we nominate Trump, we will be destroyed... and we will deserve it." A year earlier, he had defined him as a "religious fanatic, xenophobe and instigator of racism," and had assured that he represented neither the party nor Republican values.
Over time, however, he became one of his most frequent confidants and golf partners. Despite this closeness, Graham publicly disapproved of Trump's decision to pardon some 1,500 supporters of the president who attacked the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, warning that this measure could encourage more violence.
Until the last moment, Graham was immersed in global diplomacy, and lately he had focused his political activity on peace negotiations in Ukraine. From Kyiv, this week he had announced a new package of sanctions from Washington against the Kremlin to provide Trump with tools to facilitate the end of the conflict, and suggested that China could play a key role in pressuring Russia towards a negotiation table.
A native of South Carolina, the state he represented in the Senate, he was the first member of his family to go to college, according to his biography on the official website. He graduated in law and, before making the leap into institutional politics, he served for six years as a military lawyer in the United States Air Force.