Lindsey Graham, long-time Republican senator and Trump ally, dies at 71
Dan Diamond
washington: Lindsey Graham, a longtime Republican senator from South Carolina, died Saturday night (US time), his office said in a statement early Sunday morning.
“On Saturday evening, July 11, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham passed away due to a brief and sudden illness,” according to the statement.
“Senator Graham’s family appreciates prayers at this time and asks for privacy during this incredibly difficult time.”
Graham, who was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1994 and to the Senate in 2002, was running for re-election this year.
He was a staunch ally of US President Donald Trump on most issues, but had parted ways with the president on some issues, such as foreign policy.
“He’s phenomenal. He’s been with me for a long time,” Trump said at a tele-rally for Graham last month, acknowledging that the two men were dueling for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination.
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“After that fight was over, we became great friends, and he was as helpful to me as anyone in the Senate.”
Republican South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster said in a statement that Graham was “one of the fiercest fighters for South Carolina and America and a loyal and steadfast friend.”
Under South Carolina law, McMaster can make an immediate appointment to fill Graham’s seat.
Graham, whose birthday is Thursday, recently returned from Ukraine after meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky. A bipartisan group of senators reached an agreement with the White House to impose new sanctions on Russia to end the country’s long-running war with Ukraine, Graham told reporters in Kiev on Friday.
Emergency medical responders worked to stabilize a man at Graham’s home Saturday night and transport him to the hospital, according to obtained police scanner audio. Washington Post and eyewitnesses.
According to the audio recording, a call to emergency medical services came in at Graham’s home on Capitol Hill around 8:30 p.m. for a person experiencing chest pain. About 25 minutes later, emergency personnel said CPR was in progress and a man in the home was in cardiac arrest.
A person living on Graham’s street shared photos of an old man being taken from Graham’s house on a wheeled stretcher and put into an ambulance around 21.30. The man was later taken to George Washington University Hospital.
Graham’s death narrowed Republicans’ majority in the Senate; Republicans, who hold a 53-47 margin in the Senate, were already facing the absence of one member.
Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell’s office said the 84-year-old lawmaker had been hospitalized since last month but shared few other updates on his condition.
Washington Post
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