Lindsey Graham, a longtime US senator from South Carolina, died at the age of 71 on Saturday evening after a brief and sudden illness, his office confirmed in a post on X on Sunday.
A close ally of US President Donald Trump, Graham frequently made headlines for his controversial moments on a range of issues.
‘500% tariffs’ on India
In February this year, he claimed that India had reduced its purchases of Russian oil "dramatically", and argued that tariffs imposed by Trump on Delhi were a "good example" of how policy measures could influence countries' actions.
In January this year, Graham said Trump had "greenlit" a bill the senator had worked on for months (Graham-Blumenthal sanctions bill), which would allow the US President to impose tariffs of up to 500 per cent on countries, including India, that buy Russian oil.
The Republican senator said the bill would "allow" Trump to "punish countries who buy cheap Russian oil fueling Putin's war machine".
'Kill Khamenei'
{{/usCountry}}The Republican senator said the bill would "allow" Trump to "punish countries who buy cheap Russian oil fueling Putin's war machine".
'Kill Khamenei'
{{/usCountry}}In an interview on Fox News' ‘Sunday Morning Futures’, Graham praised Trump for standing with “the people over the ayatollah” and described the then-supreme leader of Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as "the modern-day Hitler", a "religious Nazi" and a "horrible person."
“It’s time for him to go. The people want him to go,” Graham said.
“If I were you, Mr. President, I would kill the leadership that are killing the people. You’ve got to end this,” he added. During the interview, Graham also argued that removing Iran's supreme leader would help bring peace to the region.
‘Who gives a s*** who owns Greenland?’
In February this year, Graham described Greenland as being "behind" the United States and said, "Who gives a s***" who owns the Danish territory.
When Politico asked what he would say to his "friends from Europe" who were "nervous" about the controversy surrounding Greenland, Graham replied, "If you're nervous, have a beer, go see a doctor."
“Greenland is behind us, but the goal is to get outcomes. Who gives a s*** who owns Greenland? I don’t,” Graham said on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in Germany on Friday.
'Pakistan as mediator in Iran war problematic'
In May this year, Graham questioned Pakistan's credibility as a mediator in the US-Iran war and urged the country to diplomatically recognise Israel. This was controversial because Trump had publicly backed Pakistan's mediation efforts and even sought to reaffirm his support for the nation after Graham's comments.
“It has been apparent to me for quite a while that Pakistan as a mediator is more than problematic. Their animosity towards Israel is long standing. It is undeniable that Iranian military aircraft are being housed on Pakistani air bases and past rhetoric from the highest Pakistani officials against Israel is disturbing,” Graham said in a post on X.
He was referring to a media report claiming that Pakistan had provided safe harbour to Iranian military aircraft that may have been protected from US airstrikes. Pakistan denied the report.
With inputs from agencies