{"id":4390,"date":"2026-07-12T16:02:02","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T11:02:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=4390"},"modified":"2026-07-12T16:02:02","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T11:02:02","slug":"sen-lindsey-graham-dies-suddenly-at-71","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=4390","title":{"rendered":"Sen. Lindsey Graham dies suddenly at 71"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.axios.com\/6P-2wCTyUQ_IXNjZjv91-2jv8ww=\/0x290:8061x4824\/1366x768\/2026\/07\/12\/1783851514561.jpeg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, a staunch ally of President Trump and a long-time <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/02\/22\/graham-trump-iran-strike-aides-oppose\" target=\"_blank\">advocate<\/a> for U.S. military action around the world, died suddenly late Saturday, his office said. <\/p>\n<p><strong>The big picture<\/strong>: Graham&#8217;s sudden passing deprives countries like Ukraine and Israel of a committed supporter in Congress, as well as a key voice in Trump&#8217;s ear. <\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><strong>The latest: <\/strong>&#8220;On the evening of Saturday, July 11, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham passed away from a brief and sudden illness,&#8221; his office said in a statement <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/LindseyGrahamSC\/status\/2076185414721847673\" target=\"_blank\">posted<\/a> to X. &#8220;Senator Graham&#8217;s family appreciates prayers at this time and asks for privacy during this incredibly difficult period.&#8221;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Graham&#8217;s office did not elaborate on the cause of death.<\/li>\n<li>Just the day before, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky posted <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ZelenskyyUa\/status\/2075622800967029137\" target=\"_blank\">video<\/a> of the two men meeting in Kyiv.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>What they&#8217;re saying: <\/strong>Tributes poured in immediately from Republican leaders and heads of state.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>&#8220;Senator Lindsey Graham, one of the greatest people and Senators I have ever known, is dead! He was always working, and was a true American Patriot. Lindsey will be greatly missed!!!&#8221; President Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/%40realDonaldTrump\/posts\/116905798341654664\" target=\"_blank\">posted<\/a> on Truth Social.<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;He was a strong advocate for the United States and a strong ally to freedom-loving countries across the globe. He believed in the might of America to achieve good in the world and dedicated his life to advancing that cause,&#8221; Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/leaderjohnthune\/status\/2076204028053045750?s=46\" target=\"_blank\">wrote<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>&#8220;Israel has lost one of its greatest friends. America has lost a great patriot. I have lost a beloved friend,&#8221; Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/netanyahu\/status\/2076209061897334872?s=46\" target=\"_blank\">said<\/a>. <\/li>\n<li>&#8220;We will always be especially grateful for the recognition of our people and words of admiration for the courage of Ukraine&#8217;s defenders,&#8221; Zelensky <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ZelenskyyUa\/status\/2076230750748148175\" target=\"_blank\">wrote<\/a> early Sunday. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Zoom out: <\/strong>Graham was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2002 after eight years in the House.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Before politics he had a lengthy military career as a lawyer in the Air Force, and he remained in the Air Force Reserves while in office until his 2015 retirement as a colonel. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>What to watch: <\/strong>Graham was in the middle of running for his fifth Senate term at the time of his passing, a race he was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cookpolitical.com\/senate\/race\/488671\" target=\"_blank\">favored<\/a> to win. <\/p>\n<p><em>This is breaking news. Check back for updates. <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Herb Scribner contributed reporting. <\/em><\/p>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, a staunch ally of President Trump and a long-time advocate for U.S. military action around the world, died suddenly late Saturday, his office said. The big picture: Graham&#8217;s sudden passing deprives countries like Ukraine and Israel of a committed supporter in Congress, as well as a key voice in Trump&#8217;s&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4391,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/images.axios.com\/6P-2wCTyUQ_IXNjZjv91-2jv8ww=\/0x290:8061x4824\/1366x768\/2026\/07\/12\/1783851514561.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-political-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4390","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4390"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4390\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}