RIP to Lindsey Graham—and the Hopes and Dreams of a Rotating First Lady

Early Sunday morning, the office of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) confirmed that the veteran, defense hawk, and chief MAGA warmonger has died at age 71 because of a “brief and sudden illness.” According to police records obtained by NBC news, emergency staff had responded to a call about “cardiac arrest” at his home in Washington, D.C. on the night before his death.

Graham began his 31-year career in politics when he was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1992, before running for the U.S. House in 1994, before running for Senate in 2002. In 2016, he attempted to bid for the Republican presidential nomination—also then calling Trump a “kook,” “jackass,” and “the most flawed nominee in the history of the Republican party.” (Obviously, a lot changed since—but we’ll get to that in a minute.) In December 2015, Graham dropped out of the race, but not before floating the idea of a rotating First Lady because he, inexplicably!, was unmarried at the time. 

But the late Senator leaves behind quite a few things to remember him by. He was the proud jingoist who took credit for getting Trump to start a war with Iran; an anti-LGBTQ+ obsessive that opposed marriage equality; and princess-curious Disney tourist who enjoyed waving around a bubble wand at Disney World during a partial government shutdown in March. He was no big friend to women, in 2023 yelling at a female CNN anchor because she fact-checked him on abortion (until death, he championed a national abortion ban); last summer openly hoping that one of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition’s boats—which carried life-saving aid for starving Palestinians—would sink along with Greta Thunberg on it; and in February, threw a sexist tantrum at Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen about his dreams of owning Greenland. 

Who Graham was a big friend to, apparently, was Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who tweeted that “Israel has lost one of its greatest friends”; Gov. Henry McMaster (R-S.C.), who remembered him as “the fiercest of fighters for South Carolina and America”; and, despite their bumpy moments, Trump, who remembered Graham as “one of the greatest people and Senators I have ever known.”

Since criticizing Trump, the Senator since became one of his most staunch supporters—sometimes, at a cost to his own likeability. In 2023, the Senator was booed for five straight minutes after attempting to introduce Trump at a rally. 

And, like many others in our relentless gerontocracy, Graham had been running for reelection in November before his untimely death. But per South Carolina law, Gov. Henry McMaster (R) may soon have to appoint Graham’s replacement. So… stay tuned, I guess.