By Michael Gryboski, Editor 
President Donald Trump paid his respects to U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham on Tuesday, calling the late politician “a giant of the United States Senate,” “tough cookie” and “a true American original who left us much too soon.”
At the funeral for Graham, held at the Washington National Cathedral in the nation’s capital, Trump gave a tribute to the South Carolina native and Air Force veteran, calling him “a beloved friend, a devoted brother” and “a respected statesman.”
Trump said he was “blessed to know him” and that “I will miss him,” declaring that “our nation needs more men and women like” Graham.
“By the strength of his steadfast convictions, the force of his magnetic personality and the goodness of his noble soul, Lindsey rose from a small town in rural South Carolina” to become one of the most consequential figures in American politics, Trump said.
Trump quoted James 1:12, which reads “Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.”
“For 71 years, Lindsey Graham was strong and steadfast as a brother, a senator, a warrior and a patriot; he withstood every last test. Every single test that you can go through,” Trump said. “And now he wears the crown of life in Heaven, reunited with his parents and reunited with his Lord.”
Fox News opinion host Sean Hannity also gave remarks, taking issue with the claim that Graham was a “war-monger,” stressing that Graham wanted “a lasting peace in the Middle East.”
“He wanted every region, every country in the region on that path to peace,” Hannity said. “Lindsey had moral clarity. He understood right from wrong, good from evil. And he knew, as President Trump knows, as Israel knows, as I know, there can be no path to peace until evil is defeated. Evil, in this case, embodied in a death cult, an ideology, the world’s number one state sponsor of terror.”
Graham’s niece, Emillie Boggs Roberts, also gave remarks, saying he was “a family man” who always answered her mother’s phone calls, even when he was about to enter important meetings.
“Lindsey was always there for all of us,” she said. “He held more than one role for each of us. He wasn’t just an uncle, a brother, a nephew. He was the foundation of our family. But most of all, Lindsey was a Godly man. So, while we grieve our loss here on Earth, I find grace and comfort knowing that he has gone home.”
Individuals who read selected Scripture passages during the service included the Rev. Franklin Graham, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, and Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser.
Multiple classic hymns were sung during the service, including “The Old Rugged Cross,” “Amazing Grace,” “It Is Well with My Soul,” and “How Great Thou Art.”
The service included many prominent U.S. public officials, including members of Congress, the U.S. Supreme Court and the executive branch, as well as Darline Graham Nordone, Graham’s sister who was appointed to serve out his term in the Senate.
Graham’s pastor, Tim Tate, of Corinth Baptist Church in Seneca, South Carolina, urged those gathered to give their life to Christ in a passionate sermon in which he shared many personal stories of the senator and his family.
There were also multiple elected officials from other countries in attendance, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Graham, 71, died suddenly due to a tear in his aorta that was related to the hardening of his arteries, the medical emergency taking place after he traveled back to the U.S. from Ukraine.
A former GOP presidential candidate in 2016 and an Air Force veteran, Graham had been a prominent Republican presence in the Senate since he took office in January 2003.
Graham was known for advancing multiple conservative causes, including pro-life policy efforts, and championed what many deemed a hawkish foreign policy. Initially a staunch critic of Trump, he later worked with the president on various public policy issues.
In advance of the National Cathedral service, a memorial was held in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda in the morning that featured remarks from Vice President JD Vance, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Senate Chaplain Barry Black.
