Trump Jabs at Lindsey Graham on Morning of Funeral
Key Takeaways
- •Lindsey Graham died on July 11 at age 71, and his remains lay in the Capitol Rotunda before his funeral at Washington National Cathedral.
- •Donald Trump said Graham was someone who liked war and suggested he had softened somewhat on Iran near the end of his life.
- •Trump said Graham remained very militant on Ukraine, even as his stance on Iran shifted toward seeking a deal.
- •Graham was long known in the Senate as a prominent supporter of a strong U.S. military posture and was often criticized by antiwar voices.
President Donald Trump called Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) a man who loved war on the morning of Graham's Washington funeral.
Graham died July 11 at 71. His remains lay in the Capitol Rotunda Tuesday morning before a 2 p.m. service at Washington National Cathedral, the same morning Trump called into Fox & Friends.
"I mean, Lindsey liked war, to be honest with you. Okay? And I said, you're a nice guy. How come you like war so much? He was a guy that liked war. I jokingly say, and there's nothing funny about it, but he's never seen a war that he didn't like," Trump told Fox & Friends.
Trump said Graham had softened somewhat on Iran in his final weeks, moving from hawk to dealmaker as the U.S.-Israeli war dragged on.
"And very interesting — with Lindsey, he was very much a hawk, as you would say, on Iran," Trump said. "I would say that he became like, if you could make a deal, it's better — better making a deal in this case than just destroying the rest of the country."
"Now I wouldn't say necessarily he feels that way about Ukraine. Ukraine, he's very militant about," he added.
Earlier this year, when Graham called for U.S. forces to join Israel in bombing Lebanon, Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) reacted sharply. "Lindsey Graham hasn't seen a fist fight he hasn't wanted to turn into a bombing raid," Burchett told reporters.
Graham had long been one of the Senate's most visible advocates for a muscular U.S. foreign policy, which made him a frequent target of criticism from antiwar figures even before his death. David Dayen, executive editor of The American Prospect, wrote after Graham's death that the senator "never met a war he didn't want to send your kids to."
Left-wing streamer Hasan Piker posted a video the day after Graham died.
"A bloodthirsty, odious monster who loved war," Piker said. "The ultimate irony — the ultimate irony of the situation — is that he achieved his and his best friend John McCain's dream of bombing Iran."
He added that the outcome told a different story: "The only thing he saw in the aftermath of achieving his dream, suffering from a success, was the spectacular failure it turned into in his final days."
Graham's funeral service at Washington National Cathedral begins at 2 p.m. Tuesday.