The Republican senator died at age 71 after a ‘brief and sudden illness’ on July 11
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NEED TO KNOW
- Donald Trump said he spoke with Lindsey Graham over the phone right before he died on July 11
- “[He told me] nothing, he said he was feeling a little tired,” Trump said as he made a last-minute appearance to replace Graham on NBC News’ Meet the Press a day later
- Graham, a Republican senator, died at age 71 after a “brief and sudden illness”
Donald Trump said he spoke with Lindsey Graham over the phone right before he died.
The Republican senator, who died at age 71 after a “brief and sudden illness” on Saturday, July 11, was scheduled to appear on NBC News’ Meet the Press on Sunday, July 12.
Trump, 80, instead made a last-minute appearance. There, he told host Kristen Welker that he spoke with Graham shortly before his death.
“[He told me] nothing, he said he was feeling a little tired,” Trump said.
Then nodding to Graham’s recent trip to Ukraine, the president continued, “It was a long trip, you know, many hours, and he had just gotten back.”
Trump then said that, to his understanding, Graham’s death took place soon after they spoke on the phone together.
“It must’ve been right after that, cause I understand the police, or whoever it [was], came there at about 7:30, 8:00 in the evening, something like that, so somebody notified them,” he told Welker, 50.
“But no, he felt okay,” Trump continued of Graham. “I mean, actually, on the call, he told, ‘You know, I feel good. But I’m tired.’ He was fine. I had known him well — he would let you know if he wasn’t feeling well. He had days when he didn’t feel so well, and he’d let you know about it.”
“But he was a fantastic person, and you’re gonna watch: it’s gonna be a very big thing with him. He’s gonna be appreciated more now than he was when he was living, I think,” added Trump.
When Welker pressed Trump for more information about the exact timeline of when he and Graham spoke, Trump said “it could’ve been minutes before” the politician’s death.
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Graham’s office announced in a statement shared on X that the South Carolina lawmaker died.
The announcement came just hours before he was set to discuss his recent meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Meet the Press.
Before the show aired, moderator Welker described Graham’s death as “shocking” in an NBC News special report.
She recalled speaking to him ahead of his trip to Ukraine, saying that he seemed “very interested” in discussing the moment.
“I just spoke with one of his top staffers who said there was no indication that he was not feeling well. This person describes him as ‘always the Energizer bunny,’ ” Welker said.
Trump described Graham as “one of the greatest people” in a statement on Truth Social shortly after his death was announced.
“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!!! DETAILS AND ARRANGEMENTS TO FOLLOW. So sad! President DONALD J. TRUMP,” he wrote.
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Having been elected to the U.S. Senate in 2002, Graham was also currently serving as Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee. He had been seeking a fifth six-year Senate term in November before he died.
“This is someone who is in so many ways ingrained into our politics,” said Welker on NBC News’ special report. “He has been a U.S. senator since 2002 and was seeking his fifth term in office. Had a somewhat spirited primary battle, did emerge victorious from that battle with the support of President Trump.”
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“He’s someone who has really been at the forefront of some of the major debates that this country has seen throughout the course of those four terms that he served,” she continued.
“He’s really at the center of so many foreign and domestic politics of this country. From that perspective, he’s someone who will be greatly missed on both sides of the aisle,” Welker added.
Graham was not married and never had children.
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