FILE PHOTO: U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) gestures, while standing next to former U.S. President Donald Trump, during Donald Trump's campaign stop to unveil his leadership team, at the South Carolina State House in Columbia, South Carolina, U.S., January 28, 2023. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo
President Donald Trump called Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) a man who loved war on the morning of Graham's Washington funeral.
Graham died July 11 at 71. His remains lay in the Capitol Rotunda Tuesday morning before a 2 p.m. service at Washington National Cathedral — the same morning Trump called into Fox & Friends.
"I mean, Lindsey liked war, to be honest with you. Okay? And I said, you're a nice guy. How come you like war so much? He was a guy that liked war. I jokingly say, and there's nothing funny about it, but he's never seen a war that he didn't like," Trump told Fox & Friends.
Trump said Graham had softened somewhat on Iran in his final weeks, moving from hawk to dealmaker as the U.S.-Israeli war dragged on.
"And very interesting — with Lindsey, he was very much a hawk, as you would say, on Iran," Trump said. "I would say that he became like, if you could make a deal, it's better — better making a deal in this case than just destroying the rest of the country."
"Now I wouldn't say necessarily he feels that way about Ukraine. Ukraine, he's very militant about," he added.
Earlier this year, when Graham called for U.S. forces to join Israel in bombing Lebanon, Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) didn't hesitate. "Lindsey Graham hasn't seen a fist fight he hasn't wanted to turn into a bombing raid," Burchett told reporters.
David Dayen, executive editor of The American Prospect, wrote after Graham's death that the senator "never met a war he didn't want to send your kids to."
Left-wing streamer Hasan Piker posted a video the day after Graham died.
"A bloodthirsty, odious monster who loved war," Piker said. "The ultimate irony — the ultimate irony of the situation — is that he achieved his and his best friend John McCain's dream of bombing Iran." He said the outcome told a different story: "The only thing he saw in the aftermath of achieving his dream, suffering from a success, was the spectacular failure it turned into in his final days."
Graham's funeral service at Washington National Cathedral begins at 2 p.m. Tuesday.