Never-before-seen video gives rare access behind the scenes with the late Sen. Lindsey Graham
(CNN) — Never-before-seen documentary footage released Sunday shows the late Sen. Lindsey Graham calling his multipronged campaign for war with Iran “the best thing I’ve ever done” and comparing President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill.
Graham, who had a reputation in Washington as a war hawk, granted access to British filmmaker Alex Holder, who said he captured over 400 hours of footage of the late senator over several years. Graham put himself at the center of Trump’s biggest ambitions in the president’s second term, including the Iran war and a massive modernization of the Pentagon.
The documentary captures calls with Trump, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and even Democratic former national security adviser Jake Sullivan as Graham cheered on the war efforts.
“It was pretty remarkable, and we had this four-and-a-half-year period of just the most, really unparalleled access, to one of the most consequential politicians in the United States,” Holder said in an interview with CNN’s Manu Raju on “Inside Politics.”
Graham over the last decade morphed into one of Trump’s most trusted counselors on high-stakes geopolitical matters, one longtime Trump adviser told CNN earlier this month, earning the president’s confidence even as they often disagreed on key strategic issues, including the extent of US support for Ukraine and the White House’s efforts to negotiate an end to the Iran war.
“He looked at Lindsey as one of his foreign policy experts,” the adviser said. “He didn’t always agree with him, but I think he respected him.”
In the new footage, Graham is seen talking with Netanyahu and describing his conversations with the president, encouraging him to take more action with Israel.
“It’s the best thing I’ve ever done. He loves blowing stuff up,” Graham said of his efforts in one clip.
“He hasn’t tweeted much at all,” Graham added, speaking about Trump, “No drama. He’s been a great wartime president. I said last night that Trump and Bibi are like Roosevelt and Churchill.”
Things weren’t always rosy between Graham and the president and Holder said there’s more footage to come highlighting their relationship.
“That, you’ll have to stay tuned for,” he said.
As the war with Iran grinds on, some of Graham’s predictions in the early days of the conflict that he championed turned out to be wildly off base.
“In three to four weeks, we should have them in a spot where they start losing control of some cities … get the Arabs more openly involved tomorrow, or by the end of the week, and then have almost irreversible momentum,” Graham said in March during a call with Sullivan.
The footage also includes lighter moments as well, like Elton John calling Graham to sing Happy Birthday to him as he turned 70.
Holder told the Wall Street Journal that he’s aiming to release the full documentary called, “Lindsey’s Game,” in the coming months. He said Graham agreed to the project for posterity and to inspire others to work in government.
Graham died earlier this month at 71. Memorial services are set to take place this week in Washington and in his home state of South Carolina.
The-CNN-Wire
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