WASHINGTON — Vice President JD Vance, Senate Majority Leader John Thune and a gathering of prominent political figures honored the late Sen. Lindsey Graham on Tuesday, remembering the South Carolina Republican as a forceful presence in Washington whose humor, instincts and influence left a lasting mark.
“May God rest the soul of Senator Lindsey Graham, a true American original,” Vance said inside the Capitol Rotunda, where current and former lawmakers joined friends and admirers for the tribute.
Vance recalled one of his earliest encounters with Graham in the Senate, describing a heated exchange over US funding for Ukraine that made him assume he had lost Graham’s support on another priority.
“I remember going back to my staff and saying, ‘Well, that’s probably the end of Lindsey’s vote on the railway bill,’” Vance said, referring to legislation tied to the February 2023 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. “I found out a couple of weeks later from another Senate colleague that the fiercest advocate of that bill behind the scenes was Senator Lindsey Graham.”
Speaking about Graham beyond politics, Vance said the senator had a personal magnetism that was difficult to resist: “It was impossible not to like him. That swashbuckling, infectious laugh, that attitude, that passion that so many others have talked about.”
Thune spoke before Vance and appeared visibly moved as he addressed the crowd, telling those gathered, “My heart is heavy.”
“I feel his absence every day, and I know my colleagues do as well,” Thune said. “I look forward to the days when you make us laugh again.”
The brief Capitol service drew hundreds of attendees, including former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and former Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.).
