‘This is a big blow to the SAVE America Act’: Trump uses Lindsey Graham’s death to push stalled anti-voter bill

President Donald Trump seized on Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-S.C.) unexpected death Saturday to push for the SAVE America Act, the sweeping anti-voting bill that’s currently stalled in the Senate. But Trump acknowledged that the bill now faces an even steeper hurdle given Graham’s untimely passing. 

Graham, who’s held his South Carolina senate seat since 2002 and was up for reelection this year, died late Saturday of “a brief and sudden illness” after returning from a trip to Ukraine, according to his office. Graham was a staunch ally of Trump and one of the loudest voices pushing his GOP colleagues to pass the SAVE America Act.

According to Trump, one of Graham’s last phone calls was to the president to talk about the anti-voting bill. 

“He literally called me about the SAVE America Act,” Trump told CNN’s Jake Tapper by phone early Sunday. “He’s traveling for many, many hours. That’s a long flight. That’s a long trip. And he calls me about the SAVE America Act. He said we’re going to get it passed. This is a big blow to the SAVE America Act, let me tell you.”

Trump later called into Meet the Press Sunday where he discussed talking with Graham hours before his reported death, and said the late senator told him the Senate was “all set” to pass the SAVE America Act. 

“What makes it even stranger is that I got a call last night sometime in the early evening… and he called and he said, ‘We’re all set for the SAVE America Act,’ Trump told NBC News’s Kristen Welker. “He was pushing the SAVE America Act like crazy. He said he just landed from Ukraine… But he wanted to pass the SAVE America Act, and I said, ‘Well, we’re going to get it done Lindsey. We’re going to get it done.’ I thought we might even meet today.”

The bill, which would implement strict proof-of-citizenship rules that would make it harder to vote, has long stalled in the Senate because it doesn’t have enough support to overcome the filibuster. 

For months, Trump has raged over the Senate’s inability to pass the SAVE America Act. The president has pushed congress to nuke the filibuster, attach the bill to must-pass legislation, or change parliamentary rules in order to get the SAVE America Act to his desk to sign into law. Most recently, Trump threatened to sabotage a bipartisan housing bill recently passed by Congress in a fit of rage over the stalled voter suppression bill. 

But the bill nonetheless still faces opposition from Trump’s own party. At least four GOP senators — Susan Collins (R-Maine), Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) — remained steadfast in their opposition to the SAVE America Act. McConnell has been largely absent from the Senate over the past couple months, with rumors swirling about ongoing health problems.

With Graham’s passing, South Carolina will soon hold a special election to nominate a replacement for the November ballot. Supporting the SAVE America Act as fervently as Graham did will surely be a top issue for the candidates vying for the GOP nomination.