The late Sen. Lindsey Graham's greatest legacy may be his unwavering advocacy for American strength and national security, former Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., said Sunday on Newsmax, while warning that President Donald Trump will lose one of his most trusted foreign policy advisers.
Santorum told Newsmax's "Sunday Report" that Graham, who died Saturday night after what was described as a brief and sudden illness, was "a great loss" not only because of his work on judicial confirmations and health care, but because of his decades-long focus on national security.
"There was no one who had a stronger voice for American security than Lindsey Graham," Santorum said.
He described Graham as "a Reagan Republican" whose belief in "peace through strength" drove his support for higher defense spending and a more assertive U.S. foreign policy.
Santorum said Graham's absence could have significant consequences for Trump, noting the South Carolina Republican regularly briefed the president after traveling overseas and gathering firsthand information from allies and adversaries.
"He was married to his job," Santorum said. "He would travel all over the world all the time. He was always going to countries, always trying to get information, feeding that information back to his colleagues in the Senate, talking to the president about it."
Santorum said Graham's influence came from experience rather than ideology.
"No one traveled as much as Lindsey. No one understood the enemy. No one understood our friends better than Lindsey Graham," he said.
Asked about critics who labeled Graham a neoconservative because of his support for military intervention, Santorum rejected the characterization.
"I wouldn't call him a neoconservative. He's just a conservative. He was a Reagan conservative," Santorum said.
He said Graham believed threats from countries such as Iran should be taken seriously because hostile regimes often act on their stated intentions.
"He had this gift. He hears what the enemy says they're going to do and he believes them," Santorum said.
Santorum also lamented what he described as growing isolationist sentiment within parts of the Republican Party.
"Everybody thinks wars are bad, but sometimes they're necessary," he said.
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