Trump’s barbed eulogy for Lindsey Graham reveals how fragile his ego is | US news

The normal procedure in the immediate aftermath of an unexpected death is to shower the deceased with praise, regardless of whether it is deserved or not.

Donald Trump, who recently commemorated Lindsey Graham, took a different approach; sometimes extolling the virtues of the South Carolina senator and sometimes belittling the 71-year-old who had just died.

Add eulogies to the list of things Trump does with complete confidence and questionable skill.

For example on Monday an interview On Fox News, Trump remembered Graham as someone who appealed to him a lot, a bad golfer and someone who “loved being outdoors” like someone who remembered a pet labrador.

There was praise, of course, but it was tempered with criticism, as if the president’s famously fragile ego meant he should hold sway over Graham even after his death.

Invited to reminisce about Graham in a Fox News interview, Trump responded: “He was a great man and a friend. He would call me all the time. He just… I would say: ‘Stop calling me, Lindsey.'”

Trump added: “He was just amazing. You know, he didn’t stop and he would, he was a worker. He was a workaholic politician. Now some people don’t call it work. Some people call it talking too much. But everybody loved him.”

At Truth Social, Trump was more enthusiastic, peppering his praise with exclamation points.

“Senator Lindsey Graham, one of the greatest men and Senators I have ever known, has died!” Trump announced Sunday night. “He was always working and a true American Patriot. Lindsey will be greatly missed!!!”

And then he turned to the funeral director with his final sentence: “DETAILS AND ARRANGEMENTS TO FOLLOW. So sad!”

Trump’s veiled compliments and mixed criticisms spoke to his complex relationship with Graham. Graham called Trump a “idiot” and a “racist bigot” when he was running for president in 2016. After Trump won the election, Graham made a complete U-turn and became a Trump sycophant like most of his Republican colleagues, but he (briefly) cut ties with the president after the January 6 insurrection.

“Trump and I have had a very difficult journey, and I hate it to end this way,” he said in a speech at the time. “Oh my God, I hate this. From my perspective, he’s been an important president, but he’s the first one you’ll see today. All I can say is don’t count on me. That’s enough.”

Graham soon reversed course and returned to the Trump ranks, and just last month praising the president “Not far behind God”. But Trump is not known for his short memory for infidelity.

“He had a bad moment, when he stood up on January 6th, it was like, ‘Okay, I’ve lived it now. This is it. I can’t do this anymore,'” Trump told Fox News.

“About 40 minutes later he called me and said, ‘Did I really say that? I can’t believe it’ and took the money back. So I gave him 99 instead of 100.”

Trump continued to brag about how he won the 2016 Republican primary in South Carolina after Graham was forced to suspend his campaign.

As much as Trump appreciated Graham’s obedience, he couldn’t let go of the occasional criticism.

“He would play golf with people, and you liked him,” Trump recalled of Graham on Monday. “He wasn’t a very good forward, he wasn’t exactly a great one; he wasn’t Jack Nicklaus, he wasn’t Tiger.”

There was something illuminating about all of Trump’s comments: Maybe it was a reminder that Trump’s fragility meant he always had to be number one, always had to dominate — even if the person he dominated was now dead.