Sen. Lindsey Graham dead at 71 after 'brief and sudden' illness, office says
dw.com
dw.com
My thoughts and prayers go out to his friends and family.
[1] https://x.com/IAPonomarenko/status/2075982208221802678/photo...
He was reported as a Trump skeptic turned supporter. Losing a supporter has costs but it is also possible he was a continuing thorn in the side.
Graham was most recently in Ukraine supporting their cause. I wonder if this means they have lost leverage. He was a hawk. If the balance of hawks in the debate has changed that has huge consequences in the context of the Middle East, Asia and Ukraine.
During the time between his replacement and likewise for McConnell what is the nature of the vote balance in the Senate?
He was, arguably, the US politician most consequential in talking Trump/getting the USA into the Iran conflict, and Trump may have resented that, recently. But I don’t think it can change much on the Iran front, considering that is largely driven by the incompetence of Vance, Kushner and Witkoff; it’s a quagmire with or without Graham and I am not convinced Trump is particularly engaged. It does mean one less interlocutor for Netanyahu.
He was Ukraine’s most constant supporter and Russia’s most consistent critic in Trump’s orbit, and given the very notable way Trump tends to be influenced by the last person he talked to, there may be implications with him no longer being around to Trump-whisper. Especially since Rubio is so distracted.
Not sure things change much in the Senate regarding Graham, but the impact on what conversations Trump has on a daily basis is bigger.
If McConnell were to be replaced, that could shift the balance, which is why Republicans and their proxies are all engaged in pretending he remains competent to try to run out the clock.