Lindsey Graham, Proud War Hawk, Has Died. Here He Is in His Own Words
The South Carolina senator and staunch Trump ally, who passed away suddenly on Saturday night, wanted to 'level' Gaza and invade Cuba, joked about killing Ted Cruz, and salivated over bombing Iran.
Lindsey Graham, who never met a Middle East country he didn’t want to invade, “passed away from a brief and sudden illness” on Saturday night, according to a short statement from his office. Media outlets are reporting that emergency medical services offered CPR to a man suffering from “cardiac arrest” at a Capitol Hill home owned by the Republican senator shortly before 9pm ET last night.
The 71-year-old Graham, who was first elected to the Senate in 2002, had been scheduled to appear on NBC News’s ‘Meet the Press’ this morning, after returning from a trip to Ukraine. His sudden death, notes the New York Times, “comes less than four months before he was set to appear on the ballot as a strong favorite to win a fifth term.”
Tributes have been pouring in for Graham, including from Donald Trump and genocidal Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who said: “Today, Israel has lost one of its greatest friends.”
A proud neoconservative hawk from South Carolina and a shamelessly sycophantic ally of the president, Graham was perhaps one of the most controversial, outspoken, and well-known Republicans in the country.
So here he is, Lindsey Graham, in his own very provocative, often offensive, and typically inconsistent words, on everything from “leveling” Gaza to threatening Cuba to fawning over Donald J. Trump to slamming Ted Cruz:
On Trump Then
“He’s a race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot.” (December 8, 2015)
“If we nominate Trump, we will get destroyed… and we will deserve it.” (May 3, 2016)
“Trump and I, we’ve had a hell of a journey. I hate it being this way. Oh my God, I hate it. But today, all I can say is count me out. Enough is enough.” (January 6, 2021)
On Trump Now
“The greatest president of all time.” (January 6, 2026)
“They should change the Nobel Prize to the Trump Prize.” (May 27, 2026)
“Mr. President, you’re not far behind God.” (June 9, 2026)
On Trump’s Impeachment Trial
“I’m not trying to pretend to be a fair juror here.” (December 14, 2019)
On 2020 Election Denial
“If Republicans don’t challenge and change the U.S. election system, there will never be another Republican president elected again. President Trump should not concede.” (November 8, 2020)
On Trump’s ‘Go Back’ Tweets to Four Non-White Congresswomen
“I don’t think it’s racist to say. I don’t think a Somali refugee embracing Trump would be asked to go back.” (July 18, 2019)
On Assassinating Putin
“The only way this ends is for somebody in Russia to take this guy out.” (March 3, 2022)