Donald Trump began an awkward tribute to the late Lindsey Graham by trashing the MAGA senator’s golf game. As memorial services for Graham began on Tuesday, the president called into Fox & Friends to discuss the legacy of his former golfing pal. But things immediately went slightly off the rails when co-host Steve Doocy asked Trump to tell viewers about what it was like teeing off with the 71-year-old senator, who died suddenly earlier this month with heart complications.
“Let me put it this way,” Trump recalled. But this, too, became somewhat awkward when co-host Ainsley Earhardt pointed out that Graham’s sister, Darline, had said the opposite during an interview with Sean Hannity last week. “She said he didn’t love war,” Earhardt, who is dating Hannity, told the president.
The interview kicked off two days’ worth of services honoring Graham, starting on Tuesday morning with a ceremony with his casket in the Capitol Rotunda, followed by a funeral at the Washington Cathedral. The services will continue on Wednesday in Graham’s home state, South Carolina. Trump is expected to deliver remarks on Tuesday afternoon at the funeral of his longtime ally, which will also be attended by congressional and military leaders. Among them are Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, two world leaders who Graham consistently supported.
The sudden death sent shockwaves across Trumpland as major MAGA figures raised questions about its apparently suspicious timing, so soon after Graham’s visit to Ukraine to publicize his drive to step up sanctions on Russian oil and gas sales. However, a medical examiner subsequently ruled that the cause of death was an aortic dissection resulting from cardiovascular disease.
Graham’s sister Darline was appointed to fill the vacancy in his South Carolina seat, and intends to run for a full term after Trump’s endorsement. “There would be nobody better to honor the legacy of her beloved brother, Lindsey,” he wrote in a Truth Social post.
Donald Trump did not expect Lindsey Graham to die first. At 71, Graham was nearly a decade younger than the president and had remained an energetic presence in Washington and around the world until the end. His sudden death this month rattled the president, according to Trump’s public remarks and two people familiar with his private comments.
