Donald Trump began an awkward tribute to the late Lindsey Graham by trashing the MAGA Senator’s golf game.
As memorial services for Graham began on Tuesday, the president called into Fox & Friends to discuss the legacy of his former golfing pal.
But things immediately went slightly off the rails when co-host Steve Doocy asked Trump to tell viewers about what it was like teeing off with the 71-year-old senator, who died suddenly earlier this month with heart complications.
Trump began by saying Graham “loved golf”, “worked hard at it”, and was “getting better all the time.”
But the 80-year-old added: “Let me put it this way. He loved it—but he wasn’t born to be a golfer.”
"US President Donald J. Trump (L), alongside Republican Senator from South Carolina Lindsey Graham (R), play golf at the Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia, USA, 18 July 2020."
JIM LO SCALZO/EPA-EFE/ShutterstockThe president then went on to talk about Graham’s bloodlust, declaring that the Senator “never met a war he didn’t like.”
“I’d say: you’re a nice guy, how come you like war so much?” Trump recalled. “He was very much into that.”
But this, too, became somewhat awkward when co-host Ainsley Earhardt pointed out that Graham’s sister, Darline, had said the opposite during an interview with Sean Hannity last week.
“She said he didn’t love war,” Earhardt, who is dating Hannity, told the president.
“He loves peace and he loves the end of the war, but sometimes war is necessary.”
The interview kicked off two days’ worth of services honoring Graham, starting on Tuesday morning with a ceremony with his casket in the Capitol Rotunda, followed by a funeral at the Washington Cathedral.
The services will continue on Wednesday in Graham’s home state, South Carolina.
Trump is expected to deliver remarks on Tuesday afternoon at the funeral of his longtime ally, which will also be attended by congressional and military leaders.
Among them are Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, two world leaders who Graham consistently supported.
Indeed, the MAGA Senator had just returned from his 10th trip to Ukraine hours before he died overnight July 11, not long after emergency personnel responded to a report of cardiac arrest at his Washington, D.C., home.
The sudden death sent shockwaves across Trumpland as major MAGA figures raised questions about its apparently suspicious timing, so soon after Graham’s visit to Ukraine to publicize his drive to step up sanctions on Russian oil and gas sales.
Almost instantly, wild theories began surfacing across the internet, fueled a few hours later by a post by FBI director Kash Patel declaring that “the FBI is assisting local authorities and has made every necessary resource available.”
However, a medical examiner subsequently ruled that the cause of death was an aortic dissection resulting from cardiovascular disease.
Graham’s sister Darline was appointed to fill the vacancy in his South Carolina seat, and intends to run for a full term after Trump’s endorsement.
“There would be nobody better to honor the legacy of her beloved brother, Lindsey,” he wrote in a Truth Social post.
