Trump’s barbed eulogy for Lindsey Graham reveals how fragile his ego is

Donald Trump exits Air Force One with Lindsey Graham on 28 February 2020 on arrival to North Charleston, South Carolina. Photograph: Jacquelyn Martin/AP View image in fullscreen Donald Trump exits Air Force One with Lindsey Graham on 28 February 2020 on arrival to North Charleston, South Carolina. Photograph: Jacquelyn Martin/AP Analysis Trump’s barbed eulogy for Lindsey Graham reveals how fragile his ego is Adam Gabbatt In interviews and social posts, the loyalty-obsessed president couldn’t help but weave criticism into his praise This was originally published in This Week in Trumpland. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Wednesday Normal procedure in the immediate aftermath of an unexpected death is to shower the deceased with praise, irrespective of whether it is deserved. Donald Trump, commemorating Lindsey Graham in recent days, has taken a different tack, sometimes extolling the South Carolina senator’s virtues but at other times rather diminishing the newly deceased 71-year-old. Add eulogies to the list of things Trump does with total confidence and questionable skill. On Monday, for example, in an interview with Fox News, Trump remembered Graham as someone who called him too much, as a poor golfer and, in the manner of a person remembering a pet labrador, as someone who “loved being outside”. There was praise, sure, but it was tempered with criticism, as if the president’s famously fragile ego meant he needed to assert dominance over Graham, even after the latter’s death. Invited to remember Graham in that Fox News interview, Trump responded: “He was a great guy, and he was a friend. He would call me all the time. He would just … I’d say: ‘Stop calling me, Lindsey.’” Trump added: “He was just – he was amazing. You know, he just didn’t stop and he would be – he was a worker. He was a total workaholic politician. Now, some people don’t call that work. Some people call that a lot of talking. But everybody loved him.” On Truth Social, Trump was more enthusiastic, peppering his tribute with exclamation marks. “Senator Lindsey Graham, one of the greatest people and Senators I have ever known, is dead!” Trump announced on Sunday night. “He was always working, and was a true American Patriot. Lindsey will be greatly missed!!!” And then he pivoted to funeral director with his last line: “DETAILS AND ARRANGEMENTS TO FOLLOW. So sad!” Trump’s backhanded compliments and mixed reviews spoke to the complicated relationship he had with Graham. While running for president in 2016, Graham described Trump as a “jackass” and “a race-baiting bigot”. After Trump won that election, Graham made a complete U-turn, becoming – like most of his Republican colleagues – a Trump lickspittle, but after the January 6 insurrection, he (briefly) broke with the president. “Trump and I, we’ve had a hell of a journey – I hate it to end this way,” he said in a speech at the time. “Oh my God, I hate it. From my point of view, he’s been a consequential president but today,