A reported joke made by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) hours before his death was just revealed.
Tributes from President Donald Trump, GOP lawmakers and some Democrats have poured in after Graham died suddenly on Saturday at the age of 71, his office announced.
A preliminary report from the D.C. medical examiner’s office, released by his office Sunday, found that Graham died of an “aortic dissection due to arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease.”
It is a tear in the aorta, the main artery carrying blood from the heart to the rest of the body.
Graham, who served in Congress for nearly 32 years, was one of Trump’s closest allies on foreign affairs, including the Iran war and his support for Israel. The longtime senator had returned from a trip to Ukraine on Friday, one day before succumbing to what his office initially described as a “brief and sudden illness.”
In the lead-up to his passing, Trump said he had spoken with Graham on Saturday evening, and “other than being tired, he was fine.” The president said they discussed the SAVE America Act, an elections bill that has stalled in the Senate.
According to Axios, a person who spoke to Graham shortly afterward said that the senator complained that he was feeling unwell.
The person urged Graham to seek medical attention immediately, but the South Carolina Republican said he would after his scheduled appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” early Sunday. Trump went on to pay tribute to Graham on the show, calling him someone who was “like a member of the family to me.”
“I can’t die now,” Graham joked to the person, Axios reported. “I still need to do the Russia sanctions, get Iran sorted out and do Israeli-Saudi normalization.”
Graham had told the outlet that he spent the final few weeks pushing to normalize relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel. He saw it as the “defining prize” of a postwar settlement in the Middle East.
Graham thought that the weakening of Iran amid the war with the U.S. could give Trump a rare opening to broker a historic agreement, Axios revealed.
World leaders, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, also offered condolences to Graham’s family in the wake of his death.
“Lindsey understood that the security of Israel and America are inseparable,” Netanyahu, who also joined “Meet the Press,” said in a statement on social media.
“He devoted his life to defending America, strengthening our alliance and standing up for the free world,“ he added. ”Israel has lost one of its greatest friends. America has lost a great patriot. I have lost a beloved friend.”
Republicans now hold a narrow 53-47 majority in the Senate. Under South Carolina law, Gov. Henry McMaster, a Republican, will appoint a temporary replacement for Graham, who will serve until his term ends in January.
Graham was seeking a fifth term in the Senate and had won his Republican primary in June.
—
Rachel Cohen | NJ.com; nj.com; (TNS) || ©2026 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit nj.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
