Trump on Graham: "He was the first person to make you laugh"

President Trump spoke about the late Sen. Lindsey Graham's (R-SC) upbringing in his family's South Carolina bar and how he stepped up to help raise his sister, Darline, after their parents' untimely deaths.

"His father taught him the key to being a successful bar owner is that you have to be funny enough that people will keep coming back, and that you have to be tough enough that you can stay in business and thrive," he said Tuesday at the Washington National Cathedral.

"For his entire storied career, that's exactly who Lindsey Graham was. He was the first person to make you laugh and one of the last people that you've really ever wanted to fight. These were the traits that made him into one of the great figures in Senate history."

The president spoke about how Sen. Graham lost his mother when he was 20 years old, then his father 15 months later, leaving his 13-year-old sister orphaned.

"But in God's mercy, she had her wonderful brother to take care of her," he said. "He later said that for all his achievements — and he had many — his single proudest accomplishment in life was how well Darline turned out."

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) appointed Sen. Graham's sister to fill the remainder of his Senate term.

"Nothing could be more fitting than that woman, who was Lindsey's proudest legacy, now continues his legacy of service in the U.S. Senate, a place that he cherished," President Trump said. "And I have no doubt that he's looking down today, beaming with pride at his sister, Sen. Darline Graham."

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