Lindsey Graham was booked for the Sunday morning politics shows. Trump paid tribute to him instead
President Donald Trump appeared Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press as well as CNN’s State of the Union to pay tribute to Senator Lindsey Graham after the South Carolina Republican died unexpectedly late Saturday.
The president made the last-minute arrangement to call into the program after Graham’s death was announced just after 2 a.m. Sunday. Graham was originally slated to appear as one of the program’s guests this week, and made frequent appearances on the show over the decades. NBC’s Kristen Welker, the program’s moderator, noted that it was to be Graham’s 64th appearance on the show Sunday.
Trump, in a lengthy interview, told Welker that he’d spoken with Graham only hours before he was notified of the senator’s death around 1 a.m. The two spoke about Trump’s top priority on Capitol Hill, the SAVE America Act, which Trump said Graham was pushing “like crazy.” The senator was just back in Washington after a trip to Ukraine, where he had met with President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“It was like a member of the family to me, he was like a member of the family to me,” the president said of the senator, adding he’d planned to possibly meet with Graham on Sunday. “It’s very tough, actually. It’s amazing.”
Of his call with Graham, he added: “It was around the time — it couldn’t have been much longer. It could have been his last call, I don’t know.”
The president said Graham “sounded tired” on the call: “He actually said he was tired.” But Trump added that his overseas trip had rightfully sapped the senator’s energy.
Staffers for the 71-year-old lawmaker told NBC News that there were no indications that Graham was suffering from any kind of illness or medical issues before his death late Saturday evening.
Trump described Graham as an icon of the Senate, loyal to him and a fierce advocate for his causes but able to work across the aisle when necessary to get legislation passed.
“He was such an advocate. If he wanted to get something … And, you know, he had a unique ability, he was able to deal with Democrats and Republicans. If I had a problem, a real problem, I wouldn’t often ask, but if I had a problem with a Democrat, he could work it out,” said Trump.
“He was a great politician, actually.”
The president named the senator’s angry tirade against Democrats during the confirmations of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh as Graham’s crowning moment in the Senate. Describing him as a “tough cookie”, he said that Graham wasn’t afraid to make enemies and ultimately “saved” Kavanaugh’s nomination.
“His moment on Brett Kavanaugh was one of the classics I think in the history of the Senate. His moment was, I mean, literally, one of the great classics of anyone in the Senate when he defended Brett Kavanaugh so brilliantly,” said Trump.
“And Brett might not have made it except for that,” the president added. “I think that saved Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court, you know, ascension. Lindsey did something that he was just so angry at the way Brett was being treated by the Democrats.”
Welker and Trump both noted how Graham “loved his work” and serving in the Senate, where Graham had been a member since 2003.
