The late Sen. Lindsey Graham brought a rare combination of blunt honesty, political conviction, and personal warmth to Washington, Presidential Envoy for Special Missions Ric Grenell told Newsmax on Sunday.
"I've been friends with Lindsey Graham for 35 years," Grenell said on Newsmax's "Sunday Agenda." "We first met when he was a congressman from South Carolina. I was working for a congressman from South Carolina, and he was an amazing force in Congress."
Grenell said Graham, who died Saturday night after what was described as a brief and sudden illness, was a longtime friend whose political style allowed him to disagree fiercely without turning opponents into enemies.
Graham began his congressional career focused heavily on the federal budget and government spending before becoming one of the Senate's most prominent voices on foreign policy and national security, he added.
"He came in really totally focused on the budget and money and trying to clean up," Grenell said. "He was America First back then."
Over time, Grenell said, Graham became a major force in international relations, with the two men regularly discussing foreign policy issues.
"We would talk about every policy issue," Grenell said.
But Graham's defining quality, he said, was his belief that lawmakers could hold strong ideological views while maintaining personal friendships with people on the other side.
"He was an old-school politician who believed you could keep your passion, keep your ideology, and still be friends with someone on the other side," Grenell said.
Grenell said Graham could strongly disagree with Democrats while still finding areas where they could work together.
"He could be friends with Democrat senators he disagreed with wildly," Grenell said. "He could be friends with Hillary Clinton and jokingly say to her, 'I didn't want you to be president because I think some of your ideas are bad, but let's work together on some of these issues.'"
Grenell said that approach has become increasingly rare in Washington, even though it remains common throughout the rest of the country.
"In the rest of America, we know how to do that," he said. "We know how to be friends with people who we disagree with politically."
Grenell also said President Donald Trump valued Graham because the senator was willing to speak candidly and debate policy honestly.
"President Trump valued Lindsey Graham because of that blunt transparency," Grenell said. "Lindsey Graham would learn from President Trump. He came around to a lot of the ideas that President Trump had, but the relationship between the two of them was an honest one."
Graham and Trump were both realists who could talk through disagreements and eventually reach an understanding, Grenell said.
"Two realists who would come to an understanding of what was best, they both would give, they both would talk things out," Grenell said.
Once an agreement was reached, Grenell said, Graham returned to the Senate and worked to advance Trump's agenda.
"Lindsey would, of course, go back to the Senate and really implement what President Trump's vision was," he said.
Grenell also praised Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., for offering what he called a gracious tribute to Graham.
"You can just be a human and be realistic about finding someone funny, finding someone approachable, finding someone to be transparent," Grenell said. "That's what I think Washington misses."
Grenell said Graham's death leaves both the Republican Party and the country weaker.
"I think America is stronger and the Republican Party is stronger with him in it," Grenell said. "They don't make them like they used to."
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