Lindsey Graham, US Republican senator and Trump ally, dies at 71

By Akanksha Khushi, Thomas Derpinghaus and Tim Reid

WASHINGTON, July 12 (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican who went from a vocal critic of Donald Trump to one of his most loyal allies after Trump became president, has died, his office announced on Sunday. He was 71.

The South Carolina lawmaker died after a "brief and sudden illness," his office posted on X. U.S. media said emergency personnel had responded to a call for cardiac arrest at his Capitol Hill home in Washington on Saturday night.

"It appears to have been a heart attack," South Carolina Republican Senator Tim Scott told CBS News' "Face the Nation" program.

The contest to succeed Graham will not impact the broader fight for control of the Senate in November between Republicans and Democrats, as South Carolina is a reliably Republican state.

However, his death robs Trump of a dependable Senate vote as the president seeks to push his agenda in the closely divided Senate.

"He's a tough one to lose," Trump told NBC's "Meet the Press" program. "He was great. He was unique in every way."

Another senior Republican in the upper chamber — Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky — remains hospitalized for undisclosed health problems.

Trump, speaking on CNN's "State of the Union" program, said Graham, who had just returned from a trip to Ukraine, called him on Saturday night. "Other than being tired, he was fine," Trump said.

The president said he received news of Graham's death early Sunday morning. Trump ordered U.S. flags to be lowered in Graham's honor.

Under South Carolina law, the state's Republican governor, Henry McMaster, can immediately appoint a temporary replacement to fill Graham's seat.

South Carolina Republicans must then also hold an expedited primary election to pick a nominee for the November midterm election. That nominee does not have to be the same person McMaster picks as a temporary replacement.

STAUNCH ADVOCATE FOR UKRAINE, ISRAEL

Graham, a defense hawk, was a prominent supporter of Israel and Ukraine and an opponent of Iran.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he was "deeply saddened" by the news, calling Graham "a true defender of freedom and the values that make our world safer."

On Friday, Graham met Zelenskiy in Kyiv, and the Ukrainian leader said the two discussed Ukraine's air defense ​needs and a Russia sanctions bill.

Zelenskiy noted that Graham had visited Ukraine 10 times since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.

In a Facebook post, Zelenskiy wrote: "We will always be especially grateful for the recognition of our people and words of admiration for the courage of Ukraine's defenders."

U.S. Representative Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican and former chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Graham's death could strengthen momentum to pass a bill that would increase U.S. sanctions on Russia — a Graham-championed initiative that won the White House's endorsement last week.

"The best way we can honor Lindsey is to pass his bill," McCaul told Reuters.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that Israel had lost one of its greatest supporters. "I have lost a beloved friend," Netanyahu added.

Netanyahu expects to attend Graham's funeral, a senior Israeli official said.

ONCE BITTER TRUMP CRITIC

During the 2016 presidential campaign, in which Graham was among many Republicans who lost the nomination to Trump, he posted on social media: "If we nominate Trump, we will get destroyed ... and we will deserve it."

Graham told CNN in 2015 that Trump was "a race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot."

Later, after becoming a loyal supporter and frequent golf partner, Graham still publicly disagreed with Trump's decision upon returning to office last year to pardon about 1,500 of the president's supporters who attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, saying it could lead to more violence.

"They did not always agree, but ... they figured out how to have a friendship," Scott told "Meet the Press."

Graham rose to prominence in Washington in the late 1990s when he was chosen as a manager for the House impeachment case against President Bill Clinton. The House impeached Clinton, but he was acquitted after a trial in the Senate and remained in office.

More recently, when Graham chaired the Senate's Judiciary Committee, he helped drive Trump's judicial overhaul, presiding over the confirmation of more than 200 federal judges, a conservative legacy likely to last generations.

In 2018, Graham passionately defended Brett Kavanaugh, who was nominated by Trump for a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court, amid sexual assault allegations against the nominee. Kavanaugh was narrowly confirmed to the high court.

Trump, in his CNN interview on Sunday, called it the "finest moment" of Graham's Senate career.

A 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.

He never married and lived in Seneca, South Carolina.

(Reporting by Akanksha Khushi in Bengaluru, Thomas Derpinghaus in Hong Kong, Tim Reid in Washington and Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem; Additional reporting by Abigail Summerville, Renee Hickman, Ryan Patrick Jones, Andrea Shalal, Patricia Zengerle and Jonathan Ernst; Writing by William Mallard and Tim Reid; Editing by Aidan Lewis, Sergio Non and Paul Simao)