Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) death perhaps hit no one of his colleagues harder than Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC). The two men had a bond that is hard to find in life, let alone in Washington, where political backstabbing is the norm. Yet, Graham loved Sen. McCain until his last breath. That clearly showed in his interview Tuesday morning on the "TODAY" show.
“We can do this,” an emotional Sen. Graham said at the outset of the interview.
Graham spoke highly of his friend's tenacity. He had "45 lives," Graham joked, considering he crashed five plans and suffered for five years as a POW in Vietnam. "When he spoke, people listened."
“John has shown that it’s not about you. Country first means that even if it’s inconvenient for you & it makes you uncomfortable, you do it anyway."
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) August 28, 2018
Watch @LindseyGrahamSC's full interview with @savannahguthrie & @craigmelvin about his beloved friend, John McCain. pic.twitter.com/brzR3vzH7J
"This man was the conscience of the Senate," Graham continued. "He was at times the conscience of the nation. If I had to pick one person in this great land to explain to someone from a different planet, who are these Americans, it would be John McCain, with an assist from Mark Salter. He had a romantic view of our nation until his last breath.”
Graham revealed that some of McCain's last words to him were, "I love you. I have not been cheated.'"
Like most media outlets, co-hosts Savannah Guthrie and Craig Melvin wanted to know Graham's thoughts about McCain's feuds with President Trump. Graham explained that he loved his friend, but he is going to help the president when he needs him. He did note that White House Chief of Staff John Kelly has been "terrific" and has reached out to the McCain family. The president also reportedly told Kelly to give the McCain family anything they need.
Instead of dwelling on the tension between McCain and Trump, "Let's talk about John," Graham said.
Graham will do just that on the Senate floor Tuesday afternoon, giving an “after action report” on McCain’s life.