Graham told CNN in 2015 that Trump was “a racist, a xenophobe, and a religious fanatic,” adding, “He does not represent my party. He does not represent the values that the men and women in uniform are fighting for.”
Years later, as a staunch Trump ally, Graham still broke ranks when it mattered to him, publicly opposing Trump's early-2025 decision to pardon approximately 1,500 supporters who stormed the US Capitol on 6 January 2021, warning it could invite further violence.
Graham's website describes him as a defense advocate who "consistently pushed for outcomes in the War on Terror that protect our long-term national security interests".
A Steadfast Voice for Israel and Ukraine
A former Republican presidential candidate, Graham was among the Senate's most prominent supporters of Israel and Ukraine, and one of Iran's fiercest critics.
Following news of his death, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz wrote on X that he was deeply saddened, saying Graham "stood with Israel at its most difficult moments".
His ties to Ukraine ran especially deep. Just this past Friday, he met President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv, where they discussed Ukraine's air defense needs and upcoming US legislation on new Russia sanctions. Graham believed that strengthening Ukraine's military capabilities, combined with sanctions tied to diplomatic pressure, could eventually force Moscow to the negotiating table.
He also saw China as key to ending the war. "The road to ending this war, the road to peace, passes through Beijing more than it does through Washington, Kyiv, or Moscow", he told reporters in Kyiv. "China has an oversized influence. I'd like them to use their influence for the good of the world."
He had recently chaired the Senate Budget Committee and also served on the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.
First elected to the US Senate in 2002, Graham had previously represented South Carolina's third congressional district in the US House of Representatives beginning in 1994.
He never married and lived in Seneca, South Carolina.
(Reuters, im)
