U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham died in the early-morning hours of July 12, 2026, from a "brief and sudden illness," his office said. The South Carolina Republican, 71, spent more than two decades in Congress. Graham, once known as a champion of moderate bipartisanship, gained additional national attention during President Donald Trump's first term for transitioning from a staunch critic to an ally of the president. Snopes has fact-checked claims about his previous positions, including the fact that the senator called Trump a "race-baiting xenophobic bigot" in 2015 but in 2018 claimed he had never heard the president "make a single racist statement." Graham's long-standing support for interventionist policies supporting war abroad also made him the subject of rumors, including a true claim that he said the Republican Party was "killing all the right people." As a bachelor, Graham also was targeted with rumors and deepfakes making claims about his sexuality and gender. Here are 12 rumors about Graham: