Update July 15, 2026, 10 a.m. ET: This article was updated with additional info about Graham’s interim replacement ; Originally published July 13, 2026 at 3:06 p.m.
Lindsey Graham, U.S. Senator from South Carolina, died Saturday evening after what his office initially described as “a brief and sudden illness.” The longtime Republican politician was 71 years old.
Graham’s Sudden Passing
As reported on Monday’s AM Update, emergency crews responded shortly before 8:30pm Saturday night to a report of chest pains at Sen. Graham’s Washington, D.C., home, a few blocks south of the U.S. Capitol. Dispatch audio indicated crews initially found the door locked and received no answer, forcing their way inside before reporting a cardiac arrest and beginning CPR.
Graham’s office released a statement Sunday night clarifying that the senator suffered an aortic dissection – tear in the inner layer of his heart’s main artery – caused by underlying cardiovascular disease.
Sen. Graham had returned to Washington Saturday after meeting one day earlier with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during his tenth visit to Ukraine since the war with Russia began in February 2022. He was scheduled to appear Sunday morning on NBC’s Meet the Press, a booking President Donald Trump honored instead.
He told anchor Kristen Welker that he had spoken to Graham just hours before ambulances were called. “What makes it even stranger is that I got a call last night… maybe in the sevens, and he called and he said we’re all set for the SAVE America Act. He was pushing the SAVE America Act like crazy,” the president recalled.
“He just landed from Ukraine. I said that’s a long trip to make. He sounded a little tired, but perfect. But a little bit tired. Had a right to be. he was a worker. He was really a worker,” President Trump continued. “But he sounded great, actually. But he actually said 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. I’ll see you soon.’ We thought maybe we might even meet today, and then that was it.”
Graham’s Political Career
After beginning as bitter rivals, Graham turned into one of the president’s most enthusiastic defenders, frequently playing golf with him and earning a reputation on Capitol Hill as the Trump whisperer.
A defining moment in their alliance came during Brett Kavanaugh’s contentious 2018 Supreme Court confirmation fight. Christine Blasey Ford accused Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her at a gathering when the two were teenagers even though she was unable to identify the precise date or location and the people she placed at the gathering did not corroborate her account.
Kavanaugh categorically denied the allegation, but his nomination appeared to hang in the balance as several Republican senators remained undecided. Sen. Graham unleashed a furious attack on Senate Democrats during Kavanaugh’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, and the fiery defense helped change the political momentum as Republicans rallied around the nominee. Kavanaugh was ultimately confirmed by a vote of 50 to 48.
The senator’s foreign-policy views created a much deeper divide between him and the MAGA movement. Graham remained one of Washington’s most committed interventionists, repeatedly urging President Trump toward greater American involvement in the Middle East. That push became especially aggressive over Iran, as the senator spent months pressing Trump to authorize military strikes and dismissed advisers who favored restraint as the “non-entanglement crowd” in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.
A former Air Force lawyer, Graham remained in the Air Force Reserve while holding office before retiring as a colonel in 2015. He served more than three decades in Congress. South Carolina voters elected him to the U.S. House in 1994 before sending him to the Senate in 2002.
A Poignant Replacement
Graham had secured the Republican nomination for a fifth Senate term just last month, defeating five primary challengers in the process. A special primary election will now be held to replace Graham on the ballot, while Republican South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster appointed an interim senator to serve the remainder of Graham’s current term ending in January 2027.
On Monday, McMaster announced he would appoint Graham’s younger sister, Darline Graham Nordone, to fill the seat. She took the oath of office Tuesday, becoming the first woman ever to represent the Palmetto State in the chamber.
Speaking to reporters Monday, Nordone promised to spend the coming months advancing the priorities her brother left behind:
“I want to thank the governor for selecting me to serve the remainder of Lindsey’s term. It is such an honor. Lindsey has always been there for me, and now I will be there for him. My brother was the most amazing person, outstanding leader, and just a genuinely good man. He was kind and considerate, and loved by his family dearly. As I think everyone would agree, Lindsey worked harder than anyone. He worked nonstop to make our state, country, and world better. He loved his family and loved serving this state and our country. He dedicated his life to our country. It is such a privilege to get to finish some of his important work.”
An emotional Nordone closed her remarks with a message directly to her late brother. “Now, to Lindsey, I miss you more than I can even put into words. But I’m going to do this. I got it,” she shared.
The appointment is particularly poignant because Sen. Graham played the role of both brother and parent for much of her life. Their mother died from cancer in 1976. Just 15 months later, they lost their father to a fatal heart.
Nordone was 13 at the time and Graham was beginning law school. The future senator became his sister’s legal guardian, regularly traveling home from school to check on her as she was staying with relatives before later adopting her so she could receive his military benefits.
“I can remember the day my father passed away, standing in the living room of that house, absolutely scared to death,” Nordone told NPR in 2015. “Lindsey wrapped his arms around me and promised me he would always be there for me and always take care of me.”
The mother of two earned her a master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling in 2009 after starting her career as an optician and serving in several South Carolina agencies including the Commission for the Blind and the Department of Employment and Workforce.
Republican candidates can begin filing next Tuesday for an August 11 special primary. If no candidate receives 50 percent of the vote, a runoff scheduled for August 25. The eventual Republican nominee will face Democrat Annie Andrews in the November general election.
Remembering Graham
Tributes to Graham poured in from around the world and across the aisle, but some factions of the left ghoulishly celebrated his sudden passing. On Monday’s edition of The Megyn Kelly Show, Megyn was joined by Michael Knowles, host of The Michael Knowles Show, to discuss the reaction to Graham’s death and why he was such an effective politician. Watch:
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Knowles by tuning in to episode 1,358 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s The Megyn Kelly Channel (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.