President Donald Trump has expressed shock over the sudden death of his friend and ally, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, and revealed he spoke to him a little over an hour before his death.
The 71-year-old Republican died from a “brief and sudden illness” Saturday night, his office said.
Graham was supposed to appear on NBC News’s Meet the Press Sunday morning. Trump instead called in, and told anchor Kristen Welker that he had spoken with the senator early Saturday evening “in the sevens.”
911 dispatch audio indicated that EMS responded to a call at Graham’s Washington D.C. home for a cardiac arrest around 8:30 p.m. Saturday.
“I got a call last night sometime in the early evening... he called, and he said that we’re all set for the SAVE America Act. He was pushing the Save America Act like crazy,” Trump said. “He said he just landed from Ukraine. I said, that’s a long trip to make. He sounded a little tired. Perfect, but a little tired, but he had the right to be.”
Trump continued: “He was a worker. He was really a worker, but he sounded great. He said that he was tired, but he wanted to pass the SAVE America Act, and I said, well, we’re going to get it done, Lindsey, we’re going to get it done,” Trump said.
Graham’s death came a day after he was photographed meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the country Friday.
Trump noted that his conversation with Graham “could’ve been his last call.” The president said he got a message around 1 a.m. from the senator’s office informing him of his death.
“I said, ‘I can’t believe it.’ He was like a member of the family to me, it’s very tough,” Trump said. “He was a great politician.”
First responders were called to Graham’s Capitol Hill home for a person suffering from chest pains, according to a longer audio clip obtained by The Washington Post.
Officials radioed that a 911 caller — an unidentified woman who said she was not home — told dispatchers the door was unlocked.
However, EMS at the scene reported the deadbolt was secured and that they knocked on the door “repeatedly,” but no one answered. DC firefighters then forced entry into the home, audio of the call revealed.
About 25 minutes later, EMS said that CPR was in process and that a man at the home was suffering from cardiac arrest, according to the report.
The dispatch calls do not mention Graham by name, but referred to the patient as being 73 years old. Graham just turned 71 Thursday.
NBC News published a photograph showing paramedics treating a person on a stretcher who is being moved from the house to an ambulance. Police cars and fire trucks were also on the scene.
A staffer in the senator’s office told NBC that there was no indication that the lawmaker was feeling unwell leading up to his death. Graham was supposed to appear on NBC’s Meet the Press Sunday morning in what would have been his 64th appearance on the show.
Graham’s office did not provide any additional details about his death. His family “appreciates prayers at this time and asks for privacy during this incredibly difficult period,” according to a statement.
