WASHINGTON, DC – As devastating Hurricane Helen hit the southeastern coast of the United States in 2024, the late U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham appeared on FOX News to discuss the aftermath of the natural disaster in South Carolina.
For five minutes, he expressed anger and frustration over what he called then-Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration’s failure to respond to the hurricane.
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Then, suddenly and without prompting, he shifted the conversation from the plight of his home country to concerns about Israel, which is in the midst of a genocidal war in Gaza.
“I’ve traveled all over South Carolina. Like most people, I haven’t slept much. But look at what’s happening in Israel,” Graham said.
“Our friends in Israel are surrounded by people who want to kill and destroy them, a second Holocaust is underway, and yet Biden is saying, ‘Proportional.'” What is a proportional response to people who want to kill you and your family? There is a shortage of ammunition in Israel. we have to help our friends. ”
The Republican senator, who died late Saturday from a “short, sudden illness,” seemed to always find a way to stay focused on defending a hawkish foreign policy and being committed to Israel, his office said.
Throughout his decades-long career, Graham supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq, stood firmly against Russia and China, called for unflinching and unrestricted support for Israel, and was one of the most vocal leaders in the war against Iran.
Michael Hanna, U.S. program director at the International Crisis Group think tank, said two elements of Mr. Graham’s career – his advocacy of military intervention and his fervent support of President Donald Trump – will define the late senator’s accomplishments.
“He has long cultivated a reputation for being a hawk and promoting military solutions to U.S. foreign policy problems,” Hanna said.
“He was a major supporter of the Iraq war and has been a big supporter of the use of military force ever since. That’s very clear. Of course, in the last months of his life, he has been very active in encouraging Donald Trump to use military force against Iran.”
Many U.S. politicians, including Trump, who has promised to be a peace president after decades of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, have avoided appearing to be pro-war. Not Graham. He was uncompromising in his support for military intervention, especially in the Middle East.
Earlier this year, when Mr. Graham called on the U.S. military to join Israel in bombing Lebanon, Republican Rep. Tim Burchett criticized the senator’s enthusiasm for a military strike.
“Lindsay Graham never saw a fist fight that he didn’t want to escalate into a bombing,” Burchett told reporters.
pro-Israel views
Unconditional support for Israel has been a central tenet of most US diplomatic hawks since 9/11. And Graham was no exception.
The late Republican often made a high-profile push for increased military aid to the United States, an ally.
After hundreds of Palestinians were killed in an Israeli attack on Gaza in 2021, Graham headed to Israel and posed next to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu while holding a placard that read “More for Israel.”
It has since secured an additional $1 billion in U.S. military aid to the country.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Graham, saying the Republican lawmaker often pushed for more U.S. aid to Israel than the government asked or needed.
Netanyahu told Fox News that Graham was “furious” when told by the Israeli prime minister that he would push to phase out U.S. military aid to Israel.
“He was so concerned about the security of our country, and he believed that it was your safety, that he actually fought with the Israeli prime minister about whether to maintain or actually increase U.S. aid,” Netanyahu said.
Several Israeli officials, including far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, praised Mr. Graham after his death.
Mr. Graham’s pro-Israel rhetoric at times turned into open resentment and dehumanization of Palestinians. Several times he compared the Palestinian people to the Nazis and suggested that dropping nuclear bombs on them was justified.
“Why is it okay for America to drop two nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end an existential war? Why is it okay for us to do that? I thought it was okay,” he told NBC News in 2024.
“So, Israel, do whatever you have to do to survive as a Jewish state.”
Many of the treaties that make up international humanitarian law were established after World War II to prevent the types of atrocities that occurred in conflicts, such as genocide and the use of nuclear weapons.
But to Graham, there seemed to be no limits that Israel could impose on Palestinians.
“We are in a religious war here. I am with Israel. We must do whatever it takes to protect ourselves. Level this place,” he said at the start of the Gaza war in October 2023.
Hatem Abudayeh, national president of the United States Palestinian Community Network (USPCN), described Graham as “another criminal warmonger who met his end by supporting death and destruction around the world.”
“Lindsay Graham has spent his career cheerleading wars, occupations, and genocide. The fact that he is praised by monsters of genocide like Itamar Ben Gvir and Netanyahu speaks volumes,” Abudaya told Al Jazeera.
Despite his comments against the Palestinians, Graham’s colleagues, including many Democrats, praised him as witty and decent.
trump tie
Mr. Graham seemed to hate the Iranian government as much as he respected Israel.
In January, the senator met with President Trump, gave him a hat that read “Make Iran Great Again,” and had him sign the bill. This was a message of Tehran’s support for regime change.
Weeks later, the United States and Israel began bombing Iran, and Graham emerged as one of the war’s most vocal defenders.
Mr. Hanna said Mr. Graham was one of many who succeeded in persuading Mr. Trump to go to war with Iran, and also cited the lobbying efforts of Mr. Netanyahu and pro-Israel critic Mark Levin.
“He definitely had the president’s ear, so you could say he had influence. But as Trump has said many times, Trump is the decider,” Hanna said.
“I think it’s hard to attribute policy outcomes solely to Lindsey Graham. There were many people who promoted the war, including Lindsey Graham.”
Mr. Graham met regularly to play golf with Mr. Trump, and the Republicans frequently exchanged compliments. However, their relationship was not always smooth sailing.
While running for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, Graham called Trump a “racist, xenophobic religious bigot.”
“I think he’s a weirdo. I think he’s crazy. I don’t think he’s fit for public office,” Graham said during the campaign.
But as Trump secured the Republican nomination and then the presidency, tightening his grip on the party, Graham became one of his staunchest allies.
The late senator’s closeness with the president sparked anger and condemnation from Democrats and anti-Trump conservatives, who accused him of abandoning principles to appease the president.
Graham was a close friend of Sen. John McCain, who died in 2018, and was a frequent target of Trump’s insults and attacks.
Hanna said the close alliance between Trump and Graham remains puzzling.
“A lot of people are speculating about the reason for this transformation and what Lindsey Graham will get out of it. It’s still strange,” he told Al Jazeera.
“I think power and proximity to power are always pretty reasonable explanations. But there are still big questions that can’t be answered honestly.”
Mr. Trump has been lavish in his praise of Mr. Graham since his death, and on Monday called on South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster to appoint Darling Graham Nordone, the late senator’s sister, to the seat until his term ends early next year.
“This will be a wonderful tribute to Lindsay, who loved her dearly,” Trump said in a social media post.
Mr. McMaster answered the phone.
Will Graham’s absence change politics?
Mr. Nordone ultimately replaced his brother and signaled that Mr. Trump and the Republican Party would remain in office.
However, the late senator was under increasing scrutiny even within the Republican Party for his pro-war stance. He was one of the main faces of the attack on Iran, according to some polls, but Iran remains widely unpopular.
For conservatives opposed to military operations overseas, Mr. Graham became a symbol of the interventionist wing of the party.
“Lindsey Graham’s deep commitment to American interventionism will go down in history,” right-wing commentator Tucker Carlson wrote in his newsletter, noting that the late senator had visited Ukraine the day before his death.
“He felt strongly that the U.S. government should focus on the needs of countries other than the United States, and he held that belief until his death.”
Hanna said that while Graham could be replaced as one of 100 U.S. senators, his death highlights a generational rift over U.S. foreign policy.
Polls show that young Republicans and Democrats are less likely to support military intervention or Israel.
“There are interesting moments where there is friction, not necessarily just between the parties, but within the parties,” Hanna said. “There’s definitely a generational aspect to this.”
He added that Graham is a Republican official with “very clear views on the use of force and military intervention and support for Israel.”
“So I think we know that his death will probably have some impact.”
