“This is a big blow”: Trump uses Graham’s death to push SAVE America Act

Even death can’t stop Donald Trump from thinking of people in terms of how useful they are to him.

In a series of calls with Sunday morning press shows, the president used Sen. Lindsey Graham‘s passing to stump for the SAVE America Act. The Republican senator from South Carolina died suddenly on Saturday, shortly after returning from a trip to Kyiv. Trump told NBC‘s “Meet the Press” that he spoke to Graham on the phone mere hours before his passing.

“He literally called me about the SAVE America Act,” he said. “He thought we were going to get it passed. This is a big blow to the SAVE America Act, let me tell you.”

Graham was a co-sponsor of the president’s pet bill that would tighten requirements around voter identification in federal elections. The legislation has stalled for lack of sufficient support in the upper chamber of Congress.

Though Graham spent years fighting against pressure to alter Senate rules and end the filibuster, Trump said that the late senator from South Carolina was coming around on the idea before his death. Speaking to CNN‘s Jake Tapper, Trump said Graham was softening on his stance.

“He was against terminating the filibuster,” Trump admitted. “We have a budget coming up. We have a debt ceiling coming up. The Democrats, well, they’re deranged in many ways. They’re not going to be able to do it. So, he was coming aboard, I think for the filibuster, terminating the filibuster.”

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In both interviews, Trump used Graham’s death to avoid speaking about strikes on Iran and the possible closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

“Out of respect for Lindsey, I’m not talking about that,” Trump said. “These people, there’s something wrong with them. But I’m talking about a man who had nothing wrong with him, and that’s Lindsey Graham.”

Watch Trump’s interview with “Meet the Press” below via YouTube: