Trump says he spoke with Graham before late senator’s death: ‘It could have been his last call’

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President Trump said he spoke with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) before his death on Saturday, stating that the South Carolina senator “sounded a little tired.”

“He called and he said, ‘We’re all set for the SAVE America Act.’ He was pushing the SAVE America Act like crazy,” Trump told NBC News’s Kristen Welker on “Meet the Press.” He said Graham had just landed from Ukraine and called the president around 7:00 p.m. “He sounded a little tired, but perfect, but a little bit tired. [He] had a right to be. Man, he was a worker. He was really a worker.”

Trump also told Welker that he would see Graham soon. “We thought maybe we might even meet today,” he said. “It couldn’t have been much longer. It could have been his last call.”

Graham died from a “brief and sudden illness” on Saturday at the age of 71, his office announced. The Palmetto State senator was running for reelection, aiming for a fifth Senate term. He had served as chair of the Senate Budget Committee, as well as on the Judiciary Committee and Committee on Appropriations.

“Senator Graham’s family appreciates prayers at this time and asks for privacy during this incredibly difficult period,” Graham’s office wrote in a post on the social platform X at 2:02 a.m. EDT.

Earlier Sunday, Trump called Graham “one of the greatest people and Senators I have ever known.”

“He was always working, and was a true American Patriot. Lindsey will be greatly missed!!!” Trump added in a post on Truth Social.

Sen. Tim Scott (R), the other senator from South Carolina, said that the U.S. had “lost a true statesman” after the death of his colleague.

“We don’t have many left, but he was a true statesman. But I’ve lost a friend. It is a morning of mourning for me. It’s a powerful reminder that life is fleeting, that we are not here very long,” Scott told CNN’s Jake Tapper.

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