Washington — Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina remembered Sen. Lindsey Graham as a “powerful leader” on Sunday after his sudden death, while emphasizing Graham’s role in “building bridges” — including with President Trump.
“I don’t know anyone who can fill the shoes of Lindsey Graham,” Scott said on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.”
Graham, 71, was a Trump skeptic at the beginning of the president’s political career, but he later became a close ally to the president and often shepherded the relationship between the White House and congressional Republicans. Scott emphasized “the important role that he played in building bridges in life, just as a part of who he was.” And Scott said “we’re going to have an important conversation to come” as Senate Republicans look to fill that void going forward.
“Lindsey Graham being on the phone with the president every single day was helpful, without any question,” Scott said. “The truth of the matter is, it was the bond that he forged on the golf course that made him such a powerful advocate for the president and a powerful advocate for us with the president, and so we’ll need that.”
Scott added, “More importantly, what we’ll need is a champion who steps up to the plate not for politics but for serving our country. That is who Lindsey was.”
Scott, who served alongside Graham in the Senate since 2013, said he planned to rename the South Carolina Prayer Breakfast in Graham’s honor. And he said he and Senate GOP leadership will “find the appropriate way to honor him all week and frankly the rest of this term.”
“America certainly has lost a statesman, and I have lost a friend,” Scott said.
Scott recalled the late senator’s upbringing, including a “harsh beginning” with the death of his parents when he was a young man, which Scott said “would frame his world view.”
“He wanted to make sure if you needed help and he could help, he was there,” Graham said. “He wanted to make sure that those who would sometimes feel invisible, that they were seen, and he did an incredible job in South Carolina providing the kind of public service that you would want to see from your elected official.”
Graham’s longtime counterpart in the Senate cited his friendships on both sides of the aisle and his history of bipartisanship, along with his “foreign policy portfolio that’s undeniable.”
“You’re seeing world leaders come out across the world for Lindsey Graham. And why? Because he put others first,” Scott said. “We’re now watching the world respond to the impact that Lindsey Graham had, not just here at home in South Carolina, but around the world.”
Scott said Graham “loved America passionately, he served us brilliantly, and he will be missed undeniably.”
