▶ Watch Video: Sen. Tim Scott on Lindsey Graham’s death: “America certainly has lost a statesman”
The following is the transcript of an interview with Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina that aired on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on July 12, 2026.
MARGARET BRENNAN: We go now to South Carolina Republican Senator Tim Scott. Senator, good morning, and we are sorry for your loss. As Americans wake up this morning, I wonder how you would have them remember Senator Graham, someone who served this country in uniform, but also at the Capitol for so many decades.
SENATOR TIM SCOTT: Margaret, thank you for your condolences. And America certainly has lost a statesman. I have lost a friend. To remember Lindsey Graham, Margaret, is honestly to remember his very humble beginnings. I’m not sure everyone connects the dots on who he is and why he is. His mother dies of cancer 15 months later. His da- dad dies of a massive heart attack. He adopts his 13-year-old sister when he was just 19 years old and a student at the University of South Carolina. And that remarkably hard and harsh beginning would frame his world view. And as a public servant, Margaret, the one thing that we don’t oftentimes think about with Lindsey is he wanted to make sure if you needed help, and he could help, he was there. He wanted to make sure that those who would sometimes feel invisible that they were seen, and he did a- an incredible job in- in South Carolina, providing the kind of public service that you would want to see from your elected official. He- he also understood that he worked for the people of South Carolina, and not he was just a leader of South Carolina. Of course, there is a foreign policy portfolio that’s undeniable that was synonymous who- who we knew him to be in public service, but as a South Carolinian, as a friend, I got to tell you, he was just a witty guy. He was always funny. I’ll tell you one quick story, Margaret. When I first started my South Carolina prayer breakfast in D.C. for those of us who came from South Carolina, I called Lindsey on the phone, and I knew he was not a morning person, and prayer breakfast starts 8:30 in the morning. And I said, “Lindsey, will you come?” He says, “I’m not coming, even if Jesus comes before 10 a.m.” It made me- I just laughed out loud. And of course, at 8:31, who walks through the door? Lindsey Graham. He- he was always committed to the priorities that he thought was important, not just for him, but- but for me. And it’s one of those times when you just know who he is as a person, and then as a public servant, we certainly know him as a fierce fighter on foreign policy as a–
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yeah.
SEN. SCOTT: –person who put on the uniform for 30 years, a colonel in our military, he loved America passionately. He served us brilliantly–
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yeah.
SEN. SCOTT: –and he will be missed undeniably.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yeah, I want- you know, Senator Graham’s staff said that he had a sudden and brief illness. Do you- do you know what happened? Because it shocked us, frankly, overnight.
SEN. SCOTT: Yeah, I don’t know the details any more than his staff has released. My hunch was it was a heart attack, but I- I hate to just–
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yeah.
SEN. SCOTT: –give you my opinion on what I’ve heard from people that are close in circle, but I think we’ll have more information over the next couple days. But it–
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yeah.
SEN. SCOTT: –appears to have been a heart attack.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You know, you mentioned the senator’s sense of humor. He would come on this program
SEN. SCOTT: Yes.
MARGARET BRENNAN: –and he would use this platform. He was very clear. He was coming on television because he had a message often for the president of the United States himself that he wanted Mr. Trump to hear. He was constantly flying around the world. I- I wonder how Republican leadership plans to honor his legacy.
SEN. SCOTT: Well, you know, one of the things I think we should do, obviously, that “Southside Prayer Breakfast” is coming up for me later this month. I’m going to rename it in honor of Lindsey Graham, and we’ll now have the “Lindsey Graham Prayer Breakfast” going on for as long as I’m in public service. Number one, number two, as Senate leadership comes together, I talked to John Thune about three- about 4:30 this morning, and he- he and I and John Barrasso and others will find the appropriate way to honor him all week and frankly the rest of this term. I will say that one of the ways we can best honor Lindsey Graham is to understand the importance that he placed on America, American safety abroad.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yeah.
SEN. SCOTT: If you want to know who he was, he was a person who believed that when you left this country, you should be safe no matter where you go, and no matter what it cost. And that’s why, as a guy who became the budget chair, Margaret, one of the funniest stories I remember sitting there with Lindsey Graham. He said, “I am now the budget chair and I know nothing about money. I know nothing about numbers, but I’m going to do the job anyways.” And as you can tell, we got that budget tool called reconciliation done once–
MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, you know–
SEN. SCOTT: –twice because Lindsey Graham–
MARGARET BRENNAN: –I spoke to Senator–
SEN. SCOTT: –he knew people.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay. I spoke to Senator Graham a number of times on Friday when he was in Kyiv, we spoke by phone, and I know–
SEN. SCOTT: Yes.
MARGARET BRENNAN: –he was so excited that the White House was finally going to support this bill he’d been working on with Senator Blumenthal to go tough on Russia and its biggest–
SEN. SCOTT: Yes.
MARGARET BRENNAN: –oil buyers. He said he’d got 85 signatories. He said this is going to- this is going to fly through. Are you going to honor him by making that vote happen, is there a commitment to it?
SEN. SCOTT: Well, Margaret, it’s way too early for me to talk politics and- and about the legislation that Lindsey Graham sponsored. We’ll get busy on that tomorrow. Today, I’m going to stay busy on his legacy and praying for his- his sister and the rest of the country who’s lost a powerful leader. There are many ways for us to honor Lindsey Graham today.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yeah.
SEN. SCOTT: The best way for me to honor him is to talk about his legacy as a person and as a public servant. No doubt, foreign policy will be one of the ways that we get to honor him. I won’t be specific because, frankly, it’s going to take the whole of leadership to come to the decisions on the way to do that.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yeah, I just- the excitement in his voice on that one stood out to me.
SEN. SCOTT: Oh- he’s- Margaret, you know him as well as anyone in- in this public forum because he was so committed to public service–
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yeah.
SEN. SCOTT: –and I know your family has been committed to public service as well in the same way that he wore the uniform. And one of the ways that we will demonstrate our commitment to Lindsey, my hope is to focus on the priorities that he had established for this nation from a global perspective, and hopefully the White House, the Senate, frankly, Republicans and Democrats will come together and do the things that we ought to do for the American people, and that will be the best way we can honor his legacy.
MARGARET BRENNAN: You know, I know it is too early to begin talking about who could possibly even try to fill his shoes for the remainder of his term, but I do know that the role Lindsey Graham played was a key one for the party connecting with a president that, frankly, sometimes Republicans have had some tension with. He’d be out there. Remember him saying, “Oh, Margaret, I spent four and a half hours with the president on the golf course yesterday, and here’s what we’re going to do.” Who can step up and help create that connective tissue between the White House and lawmakers now?
SEN. SCOTT: Well, I don’t know anyone who can fill the shoes of Lindsey Graham. The one thing I can say that you just emphasized was the important role that he played in building bridges in life, just as a part of who he was, and that’s why I started off with the story of those who felt invisible, and in his presence you knew you were seen. And we’re going to have an important conversation to come. President Trump is committed to the Republican Party and, frankly, to the Republican Senate. There are disagreements, without any question. But the good news is those disagreements, so far, have made us stronger. And Lindsey Graham being on the phone with the president every single day was helpful without any question. Playing golf every weekend for four hours. How anybody plays golf for four hours, I’ll never know because I’ve never played for two hours. But the truth of the matter is, it was the bond that he forged on the golf course that made him such a powerful advocate for the president and a powerful advocate for us with the president, and so we’ll need that. But more importantly, what we’ll need is a champion who steps up to the plate not for politics, but for serving our country. That is who Lindsey was. He had friends on both sides of the aisle. You’re seeing world–
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yeah.
SEN. SCOTT: –leaders come out across the world for Lindsey Graham, and why? Because he put others first. It is the biblical principle–
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yeah.
SEN. SCOTT: –to let others shine more than you, and he’s done that really well, even in his passing–
MARGARET BRENNAN: Yeah.
SEN. SCOTT: –he is like iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens the other. We’re now watching the world respond to the impact that Lindsey Graham had, not just here at home in South Carolina, but around the world.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Senator Scott, thank you for your remembrances this morning.
SEN. SCOTT: Yes, ma’am.