Trump calls Graham "beloved friend" and "American original" in eulogy
CBS News · LC · trust 44/100
Updated on: July 28, 2026 / 7:55 PM EDT / CBS News
Graham will be buried Wednesday in his home county of Pickens, South Carolina, at Mount Zion Cemetery. A private family burial will take place there.
The service concluded and Graham's casket was carried out of the cathedral. The service lasted a little over two hours.
Emillie Boggs Roberts thanked the audience for being there, saying the outpouring of love has been "deeply healing."
"I know Lindsey would be so thankful for the kindness that you have shown to his family," she said.
"Lindsey was without a doubt a family man," she continued. "His world revolved around my mother, his family, and those he considered such, like his lifelong friends, colleagues, staff, and the citizens of South Carolina."
She said Graham was a busy man, but no matter what, he picked up when his sister called.
Hannity also highlighted Graham's fierce defense of Kavanaugh during his confirmation process in 2018, when he faced a decades-old accusation of sexual misconduct. Kavanaugh said at the time that he "categorically and unequivocally" denied the allegations. Graham lashed out at Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee over their handling of the accusations, telling them the hearing had devolved into "the most unethical sham since I've been in politics."
Hannity said of the hearing, "The world got to witness my friend, the person that I knew, in action, and they got to see him at his absolute best," adding that "he unloaded on those that were being unfair and brutal to your family and to you, and I believe it was his finest moment, as the president mentioned, as a U.S. senator."
Kavanaugh and his wife, Ashley, are in attendance at Graham's funeral service.
Fox News host Sean Hannity called it an "honor" to be eulogizing Graham, but said he wished the late senator were with him.
Noting the presence of Mr. Trump, Vice President JD Vance and members of the president's Cabinet, Hannity said Graham would be "proud" to have them in attendance.
"We are here to say goodbye to a true original," Hannity said. "There was nobody like Lindsey Graham. Nobody."
Hannity said while he and Graham disagreed on many issues, they had similar backgrounds that helped shape them and teach them valuable lessons.
The Fox News host said Graham set records on Fox News for his colorful on-air language and self-promotion, always directing viewers to his website.
"Lindsey was a man driven by principle. God. Family. Country," Hannity said, adding that he and the late senator "laughed often," including about some of those in attendance at his funeral service.
The Fox News host highlighted Graham's foreign-policy work, and for his advocacy of Israel, in particular, and said it was the late senator's "dream" to have peace.
The president recalled a moment from the 2016 presidential primaries, when he shared Graham's personal cellphone number after Graham had said something he didn't like.
"So naturally, I did something that I shouldn't have done," Mr. Trump said. "I shared his personal cell phone number with the millions of people that happened to be watching that particular day as I made a speech, a very important speech. And I remember the number — 202-228-0292, if anybody wants to give it a shot. His phone exploded."
"He said, 'I had that number for 20 years.' His phone totally — I don't know what he did with it. But it exploded. That was the beginning of friendship in a way. But it was Lindsey who had the last laugh, because 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."
The president also reminisced about their many golf games together, admitting that at least one time, Graham beat him.
Mr. Trump said Graham carried his father's putter and mother's ring, and had them at his bedside the night he died.
The president recalled competing against Graham in the 2016 Republican presidential primary, saying they "did not exactly get off to the best of starts," Mr. Trump said.
The president called Graham "unwavering" in his principles, but always willing to listen. Graham, the president said, "never quit."
"From that pool hall where his parents raised him to the halls of the United States Senate where he was respected and loved, this son of South Carolina became one of the most important men in the most important country on earth," the president said. "In a country where politicians often become jaded and cynical, Lindsey Graham never lost the old-fashioned American idealism that brought him to the highest levels of government and life.
The president said the nation needs more people like Graham.
President Trump said his friend "never saw a war that he didn't like."
"Above all, Lindsey Graham believed in a strong America," Mr. Trump said. "He wanted a strong America. He had unwavering faith in the righteousness of American power and prayer. And he was extremely hawkish. I will tell you, he never saw a war that he didn't like ... but he wanted it for the good of our country."
"He felt in his bones that our destiny is to win, and that his job was to do everything he could to ensure our enemies would lose," Mr. Trump added.
Mr. Trump detailed Graham's upbringing, recalling his parents' work at their bar in his hometown of Central, South Carolina, and said the late senator was "the first person to make you laugh and one of the last people you wanted to fight."
The president said Graham learned about diplomacy early in life working in his parents' restaurant and pool hall. He highlighted his close relationship with his sister, Darline. Graham became Darline's legal guardian after the death of their parents when he was in his 20s and she was still a teen.
"His single proudest accomplishment in life was how well Darline turned out," the president said, adding that "nothing can be more fitting than that woman, who is Lindsey's proudest legacy," serving out her brother's term in the…
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