Lindsey Graham: First he condemned Trump, then he served him

The Senator out of South Carolinathe almost half a century who was one of the most influential figures in Washington’s political scene, died unexpectedly at the weekend at the age of 71 after what was officially called a “short and sudden illness.”

Graham’s parents ran the “Sanitary Cafe” in Central, South Carolina: a restaurant with a beer bar, a billiards parlor and a liquor store. When he was in his early twenties, they both died within 15 months of each other. Graham became the guardian of his 13-year-old sister Darline and became the first in the family to graduate from college. He later served as a military lawyer Air Forcetemporarily also at the Rhein-Main Air Base near Frankfurt. In 1994 he moved to the House of Representatives and in 2002 to the Senate. Graham remained unmarried and childless and kept his private life private. Politically he was never quiet. He defended the Iraq wardemanded maximum severity against Iran and Russia and remained loyal to Ukraine. He was still there the day before his death Kyiv.

From harsh critic to Trump defender

When Trump took over the Republican Party in 2015, Graham was one of his harshest critics. He called him a “racist agitator, xenophobe and religious fanatic” and warned his party: “If we nominate Donald Trump, we will be destroyed – and we will deserve it.”

A few years later, the same Graham sat almost every day Oval Officedefended Trump in the Senate, coordinated majorities for his judicial nominees and regularly explained to journalists what the president “actually meant.” For many, his weaselly industriousness made him the epitome of the political opportunist who traded convictions for influence. For allies, he was the last Republican who simultaneously understood Trump and tried to contain him. In fact, Graham was often more interpreter than follower.

No senator has been so persistently around Trump: on the phone, on the golf course, at Mar-a-Lago, on Air Force One. Ministers came and went, Graham stayed. He explained Trump’s failures, translated his instincts into legislation and delivered majorities for conservative judges. After Storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021, Graham said: “I’m out. Enough is enough.” A few weeks later, he voted for Trump’s acquittal in the impeachment trial; he then opposed an independent investigation into the attack. Outrage, withdrawal, return: a pattern in Graham’s political biography.

Graham believed he could influence Trump, particularly on foreign policy, and he enjoyed the access. He wanted to direct Trump. In the end it became clear how thoroughly Trump had controlled him.