Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., defended his late friend and colleague John McCain on Sunday after President Trump repeatedly criticized the former Arizona senator this weekend.
“As to @SenJohnMcCain and his devotion to his country: He stepped forward to risk his life for his country, served honorably under difficult circumstances, and was one of the most consequential senators in the history of the body,” Graham said on Twitter. “Nothing about his service will ever be changed or diminished,” he added in a second post.
As to @SenJohnMcCain and his devotion to his country: He stepped forward to risk his life for his country, served honorably under difficult circumstances, and was one of the most consequential senators in the history of the body. (1/2)
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) March 17, 2019
Graham’s implicit rebuke of Trump’s comments comes as he and Trump have grown close over the course of Trump’s first two years in office after they tangled as competitors in the 2016 presidential campaign.
In a series of tweets, Trump reacted to court documents released last week about the so-called Trump dossier that contained unverified claims about his ties to Russia and the Arizona Republican’s role in spreading it.
“So it was indeed (just proven in court papers) ‘last in his class’ (Annapolis) John McCain that sent the Fake Dossier to the FBI and Media hoping to have it printed BEFORE the Election,” Trump said Sunday. “He & the Dems, working together, failed (as usual). Even the Fake News refused this garbage!”
McCain, who graduated near, but not at, the bottom of his class at the U.S. Naval Academy, died last year due to brain cancer.
Megan McCain, the late senator’s daughter, also criticized Trump on Sunday for attacking her father.
“My father lives rent free in your head,” Megan McCain said in a Twitter post, which she later deleted.
