Boris Johnson salutes Lindsey Graham’s fight for human freedom

“It’s an absolutely tragic loss for Western democracy. He was an indefatigable defender of the West, of Western values, and of the principles of democracy and freedom. And he was very tough,” former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told me on Monday. “The people of Israel, Ukraine, and Iran owe him a huge amount, as do the people of the United States of America, whose freedoms he was ultimately protecting. It’s sad for people in countries that aren’t free and who are hoping to be free, because he was their champion. It’s bad, bad news. I was very honored to work with him. I’m shocked and sad about it. It’s a terrible development. My thoughts are with his family and friends.”

The late Sen. Lindsey Graham earned that high praise.

In August 2008, just days after Russian bombs had fallen on Georgia, Graham traveled with his friend and fellow Sen. Joe Lieberman to Tbilisi. He went to show solidarity with a small democracy under assault. The senators’ message was that aggression rewarded in one place invites aggression everywhere. Graham spent the rest of his life acting on that conviction.

He became one of the earliest and loudest voices warning that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ambitions extended beyond Georgia, and that Ukraine sat squarely in the Kremlin’s sights. After Russia illegally annexed Crimea in 2014, Graham advocated sending defensive weapons to Ukraine at a time when Ukraine did not have American support. The full-scale invasion in February 2022 proved Graham was right to do so. Nowhere is his loss felt more sharply than in Kyiv. President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was deeply saddened by the senator’s sudden death, noting Graham had visited Ukraine 10 times since February 2022. Graham advocated relentlessly for the country’s freedom.

The mourning extends well beyond Kyiv.

“He supported Georgia’s independence, Ukraine’s fight against Russia, and Israel’s right to defend itself. He understood that American leadership was indispensable to the survival of the free world, and that resisting the advance of tyranny was both morally right and strategically necessary,” said Giga Bokeria, who served in Georgia’s government during Russia’s 2008 invasion. Graham “believed that confronting authoritarian regimes required resolve and credible strength. He stood firmly with the cause of Venezuelan freedom, and for that, the Venezuelan people will always be grateful,” said Armando Armas, a Venezuelan opposition politician.

LINDSEY GRAHAM’S DEATH RAISES QUESTIONS OVER GOP FOREIGN POLICY DIRECTION

One of Graham’s greatest legacies will center on how he pushed sweeping economic sanctions legislation against Russia with others such as Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT). He understood that Russia had to pay a heavy price for its brutal war in order to prevent it from finding purpose in aggression. Two days before he died, he stood in Kyiv’s St. Michael’s Square, flanked by golden domes and the charred remains of Russian military equipment, telling reporters the legislation was finally within reach. Blumenthal is now urging passage of the bill as a fitting tribute to its key supporter.

Such steadfastness made Graham a sworn enemy of Putin’s regime, of Iran’s ayatollahs, and of the Chinese Communist Party. Graham was a man who believed in right and wrong, good and evil, and in the unparalleled importance and potency of American power. The Senate and the world will miss his moral clarity and confidence in American purpose in the years ahead.