Senator Lindsey Graham’s staff has confirmed the senator passed away following what was described as a “brief and sudden illness” only one day after returning to the United States.
The senator had been traveling abroad in a war zone for several days in an attempt to negotiate an end to the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.
Per x post from Laura Loomer, the death follows a public call for Graham’s assassination by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) less than one week ago.
According to Open Source Intel, imagery displayed at Ayatollah Khamenei’s funeral in Tehran showed Graham’s face marked with a red target alongside several other political figures.
The funeral posters included a warning directed at the targeted individuals, stating, “In the end, your heads will be severed”.
Prior to his passing, Graham addressed the hostile imagery on social media to express his reaction to being targeted by foreign adversaries. “At least they used a good photo of me. Judge me by my enemies,” the senator wrote on X.
Loomer, an activist known for fringe political commentary and spreading disinformation, has suggested the possibility of poisoning and demanded a formal investigation into the circumstances of the death.
The timing of the sudden illness has raised concerns regarding potential foreign interference given the recent hostility and explicit threats directed at the senator from Tehran.