South Carolina
\nUS Senator Lindsey Graham, a key Republican who went from a vocal critic of Donald Trump to one of his most loyal allies on Capitol Hill after Trump became president, has died at age 71.
\nThe South Carolina lawmaker died after a \u201cbrief and sudden illness,\u201d his office posted on X early on Sunday. US media said emergency personnel had responded to a call for cardiac arrest at his Capitol Hill home on Saturday night.
\nGraham, just back from a trip to Ukraine, had been scheduled to appear on the \u201cMeet the Press\u201d interview program on Sunday morning, the network said.
\nShortly after his death was announced, Trump called Graham \u201cone of the greatest people and senators I have ever known\u201d and a hard-working patriot.
\nUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he was \u201cdeeply saddened\u201d, calling Graham \u201ca true defender of freedom and the values that make our world safer\u201d.
\nA defence hawk, Graham \u201cconsistently pushed for outcomes in the War on Terror that protect our long-term national security interests,\u201d his website said. He was a prominent supporter of Israel and Ukraine and opponent of Iran.
\nGraham previously a bitter critic of Trump
\nDuring the 2016 campaign, in which Graham was among many Republicans who lost the presidential nomination to Trump, he posted on social media: \u201cIf we nominate Trump, we will get destroyed \u2026 and we will deserve it.\u201d
\nGraham told CNN in 2015 that Trump was \u201ca race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot,\u201d adding, \u201cHe doesn\u2019t represent my party. He doesn\u2019t represent the values that the men and women who wear the uniform are fighting for.\u201d
\nLater, after becoming a loyal supporter and frequent golf partner, Graham still publicly disagreed with Trump\u2019s decision upon returning to office last year to pardon about 1,500 of the president\u2019s supporters who attacked the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, saying it could lead to more violence.
\n\u201cIsrael has lost one of its greatest friends. America has lost a great patriot. I have lost a beloved friend,\u201d Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.
\nOn Friday, Graham said China could play a decisive role in pressuring Russia towards peace talks, helping end its war in Ukraine. Graham, a frequent visitor to Ukraine, met President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv. They discussed Ukraine\u2019s air defence needs and a Russian sanctions bill, Zelenskiy said.
\nGraham was staunch advocate for Ukraine
\nGraham said bolstering Ukraine\u2019s military capabilities and aligning sanctions with a diplomatic push could force Moscow into talks.
\n\u201cThe road to ending this war, the road to peace, passes through Beijing more than it does (through) Washington, Kyiv or Moscow,\u201d Graham told reporters at Kyiv\u2019s Mykhailivska Square. \u201cChina has an oversized influence. I\u2019d like them to use their influence for the good of the world.\u201d
\n\u201cI don\u2019t believe (Russian President Vladimir) Putin is there yet, but it wouldn\u2019t take much to get him there.\u201d
\nZelenskiy noted that Graham had visited Ukraine 10 times since Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion in 2022.
\nIn a social media post, he wrote: \u201cWe will always be especially grateful for the recognition of our people and words of admiration for the courage of Ukraine\u2019s defenders.\u201d
\nGraham recently served as chairman of the Senate Budget Committee and was a member of the Committee on Appropriations, the Judiciary Committee and the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
\nA former Air Force lawyer and member of the South Carolina Air National Guard, Graham was elected to the Senate in 2002. Before that, he was elected to the House of Representatives in 1994 for South Carolina\u2019s 3rd congressional district, according to his website.
\nHe was not married and lived in Seneca, South Carolina.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
South Carolina US Senator Lindsey Graham, a key Republican who went from a vocal critic of Donald Trump to one of his most loyal allies on Capitol Hill after Trump became president, has died at age 71. The South Carolina lawmaker died after a \u201cbrief and sudden illness,\u201d his office posted on X early on …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":100180,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-100192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100192"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100192\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":100202,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100192\/revisions\/100202"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}