• World leaders and US politicians are paying tribute after Sen. Lindsey Graham, a longtime Republican from South Carolina and ally of President Donald Trump, died “from a brief and sudden illness,” a spokesperson said. He was 71
• First elected to the US Senate in 2002, Graham came to embody the evolution of the Republican Party as a critic to Trump who turned fiercely loyal and grew to be one of the president’s closest advisers on Capitol Hill
• Graham made a name for himself as a foreign policy hawk who ardently advocated for military intervention in Iran and Iraq and was a leading voice for unwavering US support of Israel and Ukraine
• Under state law, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster can appoint a temporary replacement to fill Graham’s now-vacant seat. Because Graham was up for reelection this year, there is also now a vacancy in the Republican nomination for the seat
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Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy welcomes US Senator Lindsey Graham before their meeting, in Kyiv, on July 10.
On foreign policy, the late Sen. Lindsey Graham was an interventionist, with Israel, Iran, Iraq and Ukraine forming the backbone of that reputation
Graham was one of Israel’s staunchest defenders in Congress, championing billions in security aid and making multiple trips to the region after the October 7 attacks. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeatedly called Graham the country’s best friend in Washington
Israeli leaders were among the first foreign officials to praise the late senator’s legacy, with Netanyahu saying Israel had lost “one of its greatest friends.”
Graham was also one of the Senate’s most persistent advocates for continued US military aid to Ukraine, making repeated trips to Kyiv throughout the war, with his tenth shortly before his death
The senator was a staunch supporter of arming Ukraine and applying sanctions against Russia
President Volodymyr Zelensky, who said he met with Graham twice over the past week, said he was “deeply saddened” by the news
President Donald Trump remembered Sen. Lindsey Graham in an early morning Truth Social post, calling him a “true American Patriot.”
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham applauds as US President Donald Trump holds a campaign rally in North Charleston, South Carolina, February 28, 2020.
Sen. Lindsey Graham briefly ran for the Republican nomination for president in 2015, arguing the GOP needed to tell Donald Trump, his then-rival, to “go to hell” after Trump proposed a ban of Muslims coming to the US
During the 2016 GOP primary, Graham was one of Trump’s fiercest Republican objectors, calling him the “most flawed nominee in the history of the Republican Party” and warning that nominating Trump would doom the party and in the general election refused to vote for him
That changed after a March 2017 meeting with the newly inaugurated president. By Trump’s second term, Graham became one of his most trusted voices in the Senate, calling himself at one point, the president’s “North Star.”
He played a critical role in advancing Trump’s second-term agenda through budget frameworks, including a package of tax cuts and changes to social programs, known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, that Democrats decried
In his role as a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Graham emerged as one of the staunchest defenders and advocates for Trump nominee Brett Kavanaugh, even after an allegation of sexual assault threatened Kavanaugh’s confirmation as a Supreme Court Justice
US Sen. Lindsey Graham, a longtime Republican from South Carolina and ally of President Donald Trump, has died “from a brief and sudden illness,” a spokesperson for his office told CNN
Graham, 71, died shortly after returning from a visit to Ukraine – one of many he made after the Russian invasion in 2022. Emergency responders were dispatched to a DC address for Graham around 8:30 p.m. ET for a report of someone suffering from chest pains, according to audio of the dispatch on Broadcastify. The audio indicates someone had called in from Baltimore and was on the way to the home
The dispatcher said the caller believed the door was unlocked, though emergency responders said it was deadbolted, according to the audio. About 25 minutes later, they reported that CPR was in progress, the audio shows
Graham’s X account said he died Saturday. A spokesperson for Graham did not disclose further details about the senator’s illness
What happens next:First elected to the US Senate in 2002, Graham was running for a fifth term in this fall’s midterm elections. Under state law, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster can appoint a temporary replacement to fill Graham’s now-vacant seat. Because Graham was up for reelection this year, there is also now a vacancy in the Republican nomination for the seat
State law appears to call for a special primary election to be held on August 11, with a possible runoff on August 25, to choose his replacement, but officials have not yet announced a process
We will bring you more updates on the senator’s passing as CNN learns more
