President Donald Trump on Tuesday pushed back against speculation around the death of South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, saying he did not believe there was foul play and dismissing talk of a broader criminal theory.

The remarks came as questions continued to swirl after Graham, a longtime Republican senator and Trump ally, died suddenly over the weekend at the age of 71.

Graham’s office described the death as the result of a “brief and sudden illness.” The Washington medical examiner later issued a preliminary finding that pointed to an aortic dissection.

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Not quite the story first told

Trump appeared to challenge the early medical account.

“At first, I heard it was clogged arteries because he did have clogged arteries. He had a problem with that … I wish he took better care of himself,” Trump said, before saying the cause was “a totally different thing” and not linked to arterial blockage.

He added that White House doctors had explained the condition to him and described it as “very almost undetectable,” saying that if it happens, “there’s not much you can do about it.”

Facts hold court as rumours linger

The medical examiner’s preliminary report said the aortic dissection was linked to hardened arteries and high cholesterol.

Trump’s remarks were also made against the backdrop of a social media swirl around Graham’s death, after FBI Director Kash Patel posted on X that the bureau was looking into it.

Trump said he knew about the conspiracy theories but rejected them, adding, “I think the FBI is wasting their time if they’re doing that.” Trump said he did not see “a lot of evil” in Graham’s passing.

What did Lindsey Graham leave behind?

Graham had served in Congress since 1994 and in the Senate since 2003, becoming one of the Republican Party’s most prominent foreign-policy voices and a close ally of Trump in recent years.

He had recently returned from a trip to Ukraine before his death, underscoring the abrupt end to a career that remained active on major national security issues until the final days of his life.

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FAQs

Q1: What did Donald Trump say about Lindsey Graham’s cause of death?

Trump said Graham’s death was caused by a condition he described as “very almost undetectable” and argued it was not due to blocked arteries.

Q2: What was the preliminary cause of Lindsey Graham’s death?

The preliminary medical examiner’s findings said Graham died from an aortic dissection associated with hardened arteries and high cholesterol.