NPR News: 07-12-2026 8AM EDT

Louise Schiavone· Host0:01

Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Louise Schiavone. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina has died at seventy-one. His office said in a statement he died Saturday night after a brief and sudden illness. NPR's Sam Gringlas has details.

Sam Gringlas0:16

Since his election to the Senate in two thousand and two, Graham has become known for promoting muscular military intervention abroad. And as judiciary chair, played a key role confirming Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett. Around his own bid for the Republican presidential nomination in twenty sixteen, Graham called Donald Trump a bigot and said Trump would destroy the GOP, but has since become one of the president's closest allies. NPR asked Graham about that evolution in twenty nineteen.

Lindsey Graham· Soundbite0:44

He's proven to me that he's been a better president than I thought he would. I didn't— uh, really, I had very low expectations. But what he does is he listens to people, including me and others.

Sam Gringlas0:54

Trump called Graham "one of the greatest people and senators I have ever known." South Carolina's Republican governor can immediately appoint a replacement. Sam Gringlas, NPR News, Washington.

Louise Schiavone· Host1:04

Graham had recently survived a rough political primary and was heading confidently toward November elections for a fifth Senate term. In the state of Maine, the contest for US Senate has been complex, with Democratic hopeful Graham Plattner abandoning his candidacy in the face of sexual assault allegations, which he's denied. Now the Democratic Party is looking at a nominating convention on July twenty-fifth. Party director