Cavernario Galindo

CK Smith at Salon:

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina lawmaker whose three-decade career in Congress took him from one of Donald Trump’s fiercest Republican critics to one of the president’s closest allies, died Saturday after what his office described as a “brief and sudden illness.” He was 71. Graham’s office announced his death in a statement early Sunday, saying he died Saturday evening. No cause of death was immediately released beyond describing it as a “brief and sudden illness.” His family asked for privacy and thanked the public for its prayers. The longtime senator had celebrated his 71st birthday just two days earlier, making his death especially unexpected at a time when many of his Senate colleagues remain in office well into their late 70s and 80s. Graham had served in the Senate since 2003 after four terms in the House of Representatives and was campaigning for another six-year term after winning South Carolina’s Republican primary last month. [...] During the 2016 Republican presidential primary, Graham was among Trump’s sharpest critics, calling him a “race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot” and warning that nominating him would damage the Republican Party. After Trump won the presidency, however, Graham gradually became one of his closest allies in the Senate, emerging as a frequent defender of Trump’s agenda, judicial nominees and foreign policy priorities. By Trump’s second term, Graham had become one of the president’s most trusted voices on Capitol Hill, particularly on national security issues.

[...] Throughout his career, Graham cultivated a reputation for his focus on issues like immigration reform, national security and criminal justice, including reaching across the aisle for more bipartisanship politics in his earlier years in office. In later years, however, he became one of Trump’s most visible congressional allies, helping shepherd key nominations and serving as one of the administration’s most vocal defenders. Graham’s death leaves South Carolina with a vacant Senate seat and removes one of the Republican Party’s most recognizable and influential voices on foreign policy after more than 30 years in Congress. Under South Carolina law, the vacancy will be filled through the state’s succession process until a special election can be held.

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey “Lady G” Graham (R-SC) has died at 71 due to sudden illness.

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