{"id":1650,"date":"2026-07-28T23:11:40","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T23:11:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=1650"},"modified":"2026-07-28T23:11:40","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T23:11:40","slug":"lindsey-grahams-last-laugh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=1650","title":{"rendered":"Lindsey Graham\u2019s Last Laugh"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Lindsey Graham always had a deep appreciation for earpieces, motorcades, and heavily secured environments. He recognized heady Washington status symbols when he saw them\u2014including posthumous ones, such as big memorial services held in big, important rooms containing big, important entourages.<\/p>\n

Read more The Horrible Rise of the Makeout Police<\/a><\/p>\n

These were Graham\u2019s kind of sanctums. And today was his kind of send-off.<\/p>\n

The South Carolina Republican, who died earlier this month at 71, was celebrated in back-to-back departure rites\u2014a morning ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda, followed by a funeral at the Washington National Cathedral. Both gatherings were invitation-only, and heavily guarded. Graham would have liked that too; it underscored the potent lineup of dignitaries who\u2019d come to pay respects to a senator who craved few things more than being part of top-level delegations, high-wire negotiations, and inner-circle golf foursomes. Power mourners included Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Vice President Vance, a good portion of the Trump Cabinet, and a bipartisan assemblage of the U.S. Senate.<\/p>\n

President Trump, whom Graham once despised\u2014until Trump was elected and Graham managed to contort himself into an Oval Office confidant\u2014served as the senator\u2019s marquee eulogist. \u201cA true American original,\u201d Trump called Graham, which is one of those catchall descriptors for odd-duck characters who defy easy classification. Trump acknowledged that he and Graham \u201cdid not exactly get off to the best of starts.\u201d Eventually, though, they would forge an important, if volatile, partnership. The president recounted an especially rough patch during the 2016 presidential campaign when Graham called Trump a \u201cjackass\u201d and Trump responded by sharing Graham\u2019s private cellphone number at a rally in South Carolina.<\/p>\n

For old times\u2019 sake, Trump recited the number in his speech today: \u201c202-228-0292, if anybody wants to give it a shot.\u201d He added that Graham had the last laugh, \u201cbecause while I blew up his phone for one day, we became great friends, and Lindsey did not stop calling me for the next 10 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s line drew laughs, but it also contained the key to Graham\u2019s political durability: his ability to disarm opponents and to be dexterous in his alliances. \u201cHe understood that if people like you, then they\u2019re more likely to work with you,\u201d Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina told me shortly after the Rotunda service had broken up. \u201cHe could endear himself to you,\u201d Tillis said of Graham. \u201cThat\u2019s who he was. But it was also smart politics.\u201d<\/p>\n

Graham could sometimes come off as a disheveled mess of a man. \u201cA small earthquake,\u201d as his Senate colleague John Kennedy of Louisiana put it to me. He could be persistent, exhausting, and unrelenting. And he was not always in perfect harmony with Trump.<\/p>\n

Read more The Trump Administration Tells the Truth<\/a><\/p>\n

Graham was a devoted advocate of Ukraine, and a close ally of Zelensky\u2019s. \u201cHe never saw a war that he didn\u2019t like,\u201d Trump said in his eulogy. He seemed to mean this as a slight exaggeration. Or maybe not. But Graham learned to modulate his hawkishness toward Russia for the sake of keeping peace with Trump\u2014and also keeping his audience with him.<\/p>\n

In this way, Graham made himself an essential player in the life of Trump-era Washington. It took some doing. And no doubt compromise, frustration, and countless blows to his dignity. But Graham succeeded in making himself a center of influence and important \u201cvoice in the room.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI have never been called this much by a president in my life,\u201d Graham told me late in Trump\u2019s first term. He found this exhilarating and was always gravely serious about his role.<\/p>\n

Trump was followed to the podium by none other than Sean Hannity of Fox News. This felt quite fitting, as Graham had been a regular guest on Hannity\u2019s nightly show, just as Trump was a regular viewer.<\/p>\n

Graham \u201cprobably has a heavenly version of Mar-a-Lago,\u201d Hannity said. \u201cIt may even be a little bigger.\u201d He envisioned a massive ballroom and an arch somewhere on the property: a big, important room for Lindsey Graham, for all eternity.<\/p>\n

Read more The Worst Way to Regulate AI<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The senator\u2019s funeral featured foreign dignitaries, security lines, and a eulogy from the president whose approval he never stopped seeking.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1649,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nLindsey Graham\u2019s Last Laugh - Commercial Relocation Pros<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=1650\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Lindsey Graham\u2019s Last Laugh - Commercial Relocation Pros\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The senator\u2019s funeral featured foreign dignitaries, security lines, and a eulogy from the president whose approval he never stopped seeking.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/commercialrelocationpros.com\/?p=1650\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Commercial Relocation Pros\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-28T23:11:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=1650#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=1650\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3a3374a445f1b5d4852b1d7c15b9fe3a\"},\"headline\":\"Lindsey Graham\u2019s Last Laugh\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-28T23:11:40+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=1650\"},\"wordCount\":704,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=1650#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/653a3eea1148c2a74b3ee62885c212f2.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"Politics\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=1650#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=1650\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/commercialrelocationpros.com\\\/?p=1650\",\"name\":\"Lindsey Graham\u2019s Last Laugh - 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