Leaders gather in Washington to pay their final tributes to Lindsey Graham
Source: NPR Topics: News · Bias: Center
Summary
Lawmakers, foreign leaders and President Trump are gathering Tuesday for the first of two days of funeral services for the late South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham.
Leaders gather in Washington to pay their final tributes to Lindsey Graham
Center
Lawmakers, foreign leaders and President Trump are gathering Tuesday for the first of two days of funeral services for the late South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham.
WASHINGTON – Lindsey Graham’s bipartisan relationships and stature on the global stage drove world events one last time Tuesday, as a gathering for his funeral produced a possibility for peace. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in town for Graham’s memorial service, had a “productive” meeting with President Trump at the White House that resulted in diplomatic...
The way President Donald Trump honored late Sen. Lindsey Graham's coffin left onlookers disgusted online.Sen. Lindsey Graham was mourned at his Washington, D.C., funeral on Tuesday after he died unexpectedly at the age of 71 earlier this month. Trump created plenty of noteworthy moments at the occasion, including by apparently falling asleep and by delivering a stunning ad-lib during the tribute.However, he also drew online criticism by tapping Graham's casket as he passed. In a post on X, journalist and policy consultant Adam Cochran called Trump a "performative jack—" who "thinks he's testing a watermelon.""Biggest narcissist ever," posted New York Times opinion writer Elizabeth Spiers on Bluesky. "Has Trump ever felt sad for someone else ever? If he has, it has never come up in any profile or coverage of him — going back to the mid 80s.""Press F to pay respect," joked writer Aidan Moher."It's called the Narcissist's Knock, reserved for moments when a person incapable of giving a crap about another human being pretends to give a crap about another human being and fails spectacularly," posted writer Rex Huppke."One last pat on the head of the loyal senator who gave up his dignity for TV hits and free hats," mocked journalist Mike Rothschild."This is the sort of thing you do when you're the only one at the funeral who knows that the deceased is actually still alive in the coffin and you want to taunt them once more before the first shovel of dirt lands," wrote historian Charles Louis Richter."Biggest narcissist ever. (Not that Graham deserves an outpouring of feeling.)," Elizabeth Spiers, an opinion writer for the New York Times, posted on Bluesky. "Has Trump ever felt sad for someone else, ever? If he has, it has never come up in any profile or coverage of him — going back to the mid 80s."
Former Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) received an emotional send-off Wednesday at two memorial services, where political allies and foes, some of whom had shifted back and forth during the South Carolinian’s long career, bid him tribute. “He was a force of nature, and I will miss him greatly,” President Trump said at the latter service…
President Trump couldn’t stay awake at Lindsey Graham’s funeral Tuesday.As several well-wishers eulogized the former senator at the Washington National Cathedral, Trump could barely hold his face up and keep his eyes open. It didn’t take long for him to start dozing off, occasionally blinking to try and hide his drowsiness.Trump, face drooping heavily, is struggling to stay awake at Lindsey Graham's memorial service pic.twitter.com/E0SzRm87s2— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 28, 2026Trump is out 💤 pic.twitter.com/xeQcm5fDXM— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 28, 2026Trump is fighting nuclear war against wokeness pic.twitter.com/PnOdJn8l5k— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 28, 2026At certain points, Trump even started tilting his head as he was falling asleep. this is elder abuse pic.twitter.com/dkaZ0ZGkof— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 28, 2026All of this took place shortly after Trump delivered his own eulogy, in which he went off-script and made fun of Graham a little, with all of his friends and family present, and reminded the audience about the time he publicly shared Graham’s cell phone number. All of that was probably much too tiring for the 80-year-old Trump, and he decided to take a little rest.
At least one American was cheering when the White House decided to drop bombs on Iran.Previously unreleased documentary footage has put late South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham’s warmongering on full display, exposing just how gleeful he was when the country ignited the Iran war.“Look what we’ve done here. I almost cried,” Graham says in one video clip, practically giddy.“I talked to [Donald] Trump this morning, he’s jacked, he said, ‘Best thing I have ever done.’ He loves blowing stuff up,” the conservative lawmaker said at the time. “I mean, how long have we been pushing this?“There were a lot of people inside that didn’t want to do it, so I had my challenges,” he added.Lindsey Graham celebrating the start of the Iran war. Dark stuff. pic.twitter.com/IJmjg0ATqa— Dave DeCamp (@DecampDave) July 26, 2026The footage was captured by British filmmaker Alex Holder, who had been granted remarkable access to film Graham since 2023. The footage is a part of an upcoming documentary that is currently titled “Lindsey’s Graham,” a reference to the senator’s personal perspective on his role in U.S. foreign policy.“He would call what this was ‘a game,’” Holder told The Wall Street Journal, recalling that Graham had shared how bizarre he felt it was that a senator from South Carolina was closer with some Middle East leaders than most presidential administrations.Graham reportedly agreed to the angle of the film, claiming that he wanted the public to understand his role in the Senate. Holder told the Journal that Graham had remarked how “cool this was.”In another clip in which he expresses his joy with the interventionist strategy, Graham compared Trump to former President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Winston Churchill, likening the burgeoning Middle East conflict to World War II.“President Trump, when he gets into the zone, he listens, he asks good questions, no tweeting. He … hasn’t tweeted much at all,” Graham said. “No drama, he’s been a great wartime president.“I mean, they’re the right two guys to confront this evil,” Graham added.In other recently released footage, Graham was captured phoning Netanyahu—whom he referred to as his “friend”—about a joint plan to lobby Trump to get involved in the conflict.“We’re concentrating right now on Iran,” Netanyahu told Graham over speakerphone on a March 4 call. “If we tell Hezbollah that we’re going all the way, we threaten them, but if we actually do it, then they have no reason not to go all the way against us. And right now that’s not our interest.”“That’s actually good counsel,” Graham responded from his Senate office, decorated with Trump merchandise. “I’ll put it out there as an idea; we can always go back to it.”UNSEEN FOOTAGE of Lindsey Graham on CALL with Netanyahu revealing plans to LOBBY Trump to BOMB LebanonBIBI: Glad you’re my FRIENDGRAHAM: Going to try to get Trump to join with y'all in Lebanon… WOULD YOU LIKE THAT?B: Concentrating right now on IRANG: Can always go back pic.twitter.com/9Wt0MCuEpq— RT (@RT_com) July 26, 2026Yet the Iran war has done nothing good for America in the 21 weeks since it began. The conflict has so far killed at least 18 U.S. service members and wounded more than 600 others. It has also taken an enormous toll on daily life in the U.S., inflaming the cost of practically everything as shipping companies contend with rising oil costs.
A recent Freedom of Information Act request for Pentagon records revealed the department never disclosed that 70 American troops were wounded in a single day during Trump's Iran war.The War Horse filed the request and published its findings, revealing over 400 casualties in the first six weeks of conflict. The data was logged between Feb. 28 and April 8, with head trauma being the most common among 170 cases. Troops also suffered shrapnel wounds, broken bones, and smoke inhalation, according to the data. Army soldiers comprised most casualties, with over 270 troops, including roughly one-third reservists. The largest casualty day occurred on March 18, following a U.S.-Israeli airstrike killing senior Iranian official Ali Larijani. The Pentagon subsequently reorganized its Defense Casualty Analysis System, Task & Purpose found. Additionally, the Washington Examiner reported the Pentagon split the war into separate operational lists to circumvent the 60-day War Powers Act requirement for congressional authorization. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) condemned the situation on social media, "Let me explain this absurd ruse: The Pentagon is pretending there have been two Iran wars separated by a brief cease-fire," he added, "The reality: By going more than 90 days without congressional authorization, War Secretary Pete Hegseth is breaking the law and must be held accountable."Watch the video below. Your browser does not support the video tag.
