Lindsey Graham, a longtime US senator and key ally of Donald Trump, has died from a sudden illness, his office said on Sunday. He had just turned 71.
Graham’s abrupt death will send shock waves through Washington and the Republican party. He had served in the Senate since 2003, representing South Carolina, and was running for re-election in November.
“On the evening of Saturday 11 July, US senator Lindsey Graham passed away from a brief and sudden illness,” his office said in a statement. “Senator Graham’s family appreciates prayers at this time and asks for privacy during this incredibly difficult period.”
It gave no further details. Citing police scanner audio, the Washington Post newspaper reported that emergency medical services had received a call at about 8.30pm on Saturday regarding a person suffering chest pains at Graham’s home on Capitol Hill. About 25 minutes later, according to the Post, emergency personnel said CPR was in progress and a man was suffering cardiac arrest.
What is there to say about the life of someone so devoted to sucking up to power that he was often called a “remora”? Well, a lot, I guess, and none of it good.
Graham had just returned from a junket to Ukraine, so apparently we’ll be subject to a number of Russia-centric conspiracy theories about a 71 year-old man who clearly didn’t take very good care of himself dropping dead from a heart attack. One might think that Graham showed some backbone and commitment to principle by supporting the war in Ukraine when Trump was against it, but one’s thinking would be wrong: Graham just liked war. I can’t think of a military action, real or imagined, that he was against.
Aside from his support of Ukraine, there’s very little that Graham did to oppose Trump. He’s on the long list of Republicans who initially said bad things about Trump but then jumped on the Trump bandwagon. Here’s a prime example:
Note the date, and note that he called Trump “President”. This is from a guy who demanded that Capitol Police shoot the 1/6 insurrectionists while they were sacking the Capitol.
No discussion of Graham’s disgusting tenure in the Senate would be complete without mentioning his well-known closeted homosexuality. One of the weirdnesses of institutional Republican DC is that they’re fine with people being gay as long as they’re shamefully quiet about it, and Graham, a supporter of banning gay marriage, followed the script, with gusto.
Graham was above all a person who loved having the little slice of power and recognition that comes with being a Senator. It’s an interesting thought experiment to wonder what he wouldn’t do to hold on to power. He accomplished very little positive in his long tenure in Washington, and he’ll be little more than a footnote when the history of his time in DC is written.
Graham had a credible challenger, Dr. Annie Andrews. Realistically, there’s not a lot of hope that the state that brought us Graham and Nancy Mace will elect her to Congress, but Graham’s death gives her a better chance. Good.
