The Conversation (0)
See Lindsey Graham's final public appearances before his death
New York Post / VideoElephant
Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina senator, has died at the age of 71, and his death has resulted in one past tweet doing the rounds online.
A statement from Graham’s office, shared to the Republican’s social media channels on Sunday, said the senator died from “a brief and sudden illness”.
But after the news broke, a tweet from the politician more than 10 years ago resurfaced in which he warned against Donald Trump being nominated as the Republican presidential candidate.
“If we nominate Trump, we will get destroyed......and we will deserve it,” he wrote.
Since then, Graham was considered an ally of Trump's, with CNN anchor Erin Burnett branding him Trump’s “sycophant-in-chief” in 2022 after he criticised Joe Biden for not opposing the outgoing president’s impeachment.
In that same year, it was reported that Trump demanded Graham tell reporters that he was really good at playing golf.
More recently, he made headlines in April when he appeared alongside Republican colleagues Katie Britt (Alabama) and Eric Schmitt (Missouri) and revealed plans to introduce legislation to fund the new White House ballroom using taxpayer dollars.
Following Graham’s passing, former Republican congressman Adam Kinzinger was among those who reposted the politician’s tweet warning of Trump:
Journalist Aaron Rupar said the comment was the “defining Lindsey Graham statement”:
Political commentator Brian Krassenstein said: “I hope everybody remembers Lindsey Graham’s words”:
“As we remember the late Lindsey Graham…,” commented journalist Mehdi Hasan:
Meanwhile, Trump paid tribute to Graham in a series of posts to his Truth Social account, including one of the senator smiling while holding up a placard showing the president’s Wikipedia page.
In another, he said Graham was “one of the greatest people and Senators I have ever known”.
“He was always working, and was a true American Patriot. Lindsey will be greatly missed,” he wrote.
Why not read…?
- Trump says he's been president 'three times' – people are tired of it
- Harry Kane reveals what playing golf with Donald Trump was really like
Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter
How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel
Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.