Senator Lindsey Graham was close with John McCain for many, many years, and today Graham delivered a heartfelt, emotional speech on the Senate floor this afternoon paying tribute to his friend. Graham talked about McCain’s sense of humor and some of the jokes he shared over the years, including how Arizona is the once place where “mothers tell their children you can never grow up to be president.” “I am gonna miss these dumb jokes,” he said. He reflected on everything he learned from McCain, including witnessing how “the captured warrior who was tortured became the statesman who forgave and healed.” “I remember him embracing a war that nobody wanted to talk about because he understood what it would cost to lose it,” he said. “I remember him supporting the surge when everybody was willing to get out of Iraq because they were so tired of it and saw no way forward. I remember the fighter.” Graham spoke of McCain as a healer and unifier who was graceful in defeat and accepting of failures before continuing: “To those striving as a young person, remember John McCain. He failed a lot, but he never quit and the reason we’re talking about him today and the reason I’m crying is because he was successful. In spite of his failures. For family and friends, the after action report would say a relationship with Maverick brought joy and difficulty. Both were your constant companion. He was a difficult man. He could be tough. But the joy that you received from being with him will sustain you for a lifetime. And I am so lucky to have been in his presence.” He even said at one point that people should try to follow in his footsteps, saying, “Be more like John McCain. I believe there’s a little John McCain in all of us. And a little John McCain practiced by a lot of people can make this a really great nation.” You can watch above, via CBS. [image via screengrab] Have a tip we should know? [email protected]<doc-sep>Sen. Lindsey Graham paid tribute to the late Sen. John McCain on the Senate floor Tuesday afternoon, memorializing their storied friendship and McCain's legacy. "He taught me that honor and imperfection are always in competition," Graham said. "I do not cry for a perfect man. I cry for a man who had honor and always was willing to admit to his imperfection." McCain and Graham have been friends since the 1990s. McCain died at 81 Saturday, following a battle with brain cancer that lasted more than a year. Graham listed some of his favorite jokes from McCain, known for speaking his mind — and always willing to crack a joke. Graham said with a smile that he was going to miss McCain's "dumb jokes." "Humiliation and affection were constant companions. The more he humiliated you, the more he liked you. And in that regard I was well served," the South Carolina senator said. "John taught us how to lose... When you go throughout the world, people remember his concession speech as much as anything else. He healed a nation at a time that he was hurt. I remember learning a cause greater than yourself hurts," Senator Graham says of John McCain. pic.twitter.com/Kz4XZkCoEo — CBS News (@CBSNews) August 28, 2018 Graham recalled McCain's 2008 concession speech as one of the most memorable moments of his long career. "John taught us how to lose," Graham said. "When you go throughout the world, people remember his concession speech as much as anything else. There are so many countries where you can't afford to lose because they'll kill you. And John said that night, 'President Obama is now my president.' So he healed the nation at a time he was hurt. I learned that serving a cause greater than yourself hurts." Graham McCain cannot be replaced, but he believes McCain's legacy can live on still in Americans. "It is going to be a lonely journey for me for a while," Graham said, concluding his speech. "I am going to need your help, and the void to be filled by John's passing is more than I can do. Don't look to me to replace this man. Look to me to remember what he was all about and try to follow in his footsteps. If you want to help me, join the march. If you want to help the country, be more like John McCain. I believe there is a little John McCain in all of us, and the little John McCain practiced by a lot of people can make this a really great nation." In a conversation with reporters after the Senate floor speech, Graham said McCain had some advice about dealing with President Trump, whom McCain frequently criticized. "Talked a little bit about that, he said him where you can just don't get sucked into all his bullshi*t," Graham said. "I said, right. So I'll help him where I can and not get sucked into the other drama. John felt like his view of the world had to be reinforced and the conflict between him and the president has been difficult. He's had it before. He's always hoping that with time maybe things would change but we never got there ..."<doc-sep>WASHINGTON — Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), the late Sen. John McCain’s pal on Capitol Hill, said Tuesday that he believed the Arizona Republican’s lasting legacy is that he “taught us how to lose.” “When you go around the world people remember his concession speech as much as anything else,” Graham said speaking of the night in November 2008 that McCain lost the White House to then-Sen. Barack Obama. “So he healed the nation at the time he was hurting.” Speaking on the Senate floor, with his voice cracking sporadically, Graham retold some of McCain’s favorite jokes, listed the lessons he learned from the six-term senator and reminded his audience of the times McCain’s policy positions were right. “I’m going to try and make this somewhat fun, even though I don’t feel in a funny mood right now,” Graham said. Graham pointed to his tie, noting it was a Naval Academy tie — McCain’s alma mater — and recalled how McCain would often say he wished Graham had been a member of his Naval Academy class. “I would have been sixth from the bottom, not fifth,” Graham said he would say. “So thank you very much John. Humiliation and affection were constant companions. The more he humiliated you, the more he liked you,” Graham explained. “In that regard I was well-served.” McCain also liked to joke that Arizona, the birthplace of three losing presidential candidates, is “the only place in the nation where mothers tell their children you can never grow up to be president,” Graham said. “Jeff remember that, maybe you can break the string,” Graham said to Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), who has hinted he has future presidential ambitions. Graham called out other senators too, telling Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) that he could inherit McCain’s dumb jokes, while name-dropping Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), urging him to be patient, like McCain, with his colleagues. “He believed in climate change, Sheldon, and so do I,” Graham said. “But there’s a practical streak in John that I think made him very successful because you have to let people catch up to you. You have to have a rhythm and a pace.” The South Carolina reminded his fellow lawmakers when McCain had been right. “I remember him embracing a war that nobody wanted to talk about because he understood the cost to lose it,” Graham said, speaking of the Iraqi surge. “He talked about what would happen in Iraq if we left. He was right. He talked about what happened in Syria if we didn’t get involved. He was right,” Graham continued. “Why? Because warriors are the best, I believe, at making peace.” Graham formulated his speech like a military “after action” report, which he assigned the code name “Operation Maverick.” “The source of the report is me, his political wingman, code name ‘Old Jerk’ — you’ve all got your names and earned them like I did — who was lucky enough to walk in his shadow and witness history up close,” Graham said. Graham said he would characterize “Operation Maverick” as “wildly successful.” “It made the world a better place. It gave the nation something to talk about at a time when we can’t agree on anything. The only time MSNBC, CNN and Fox are saying the same thing.” “Not universal acceptance of the life of John McCain,” Graham remarked. “But pretty damn close.”<doc-sep>
Sen. Lindsey Graham Lindsey Olin GrahamSenators struggle to save Jan. 6 commission Police reform fight hinges on qualified immunity On The Money: White House counters with .7 trillion infrastructure proposal, GOP unimpressed | USDA to start loan forgiveness for thousands of minority farmers MORE (R-S.C.) paid tribute to the late Sen. John McCain John Sidney McCainHannity tells Santorum he helped prevent Joy Reid from being fired Richard Hanania sees Trump as 2024 GOP nominee Why Republican politicians are sticking with Trump MORE (R-Ariz.) during an emotional speech on the Senate floor on Tuesday while urging his colleagues to be more like the "maverick" senator. "If you want to help the country, be more like John McCain. I believe there is a little John McCain in all of us and the little John McCain practiced by a lot of people can make a really great nation," Graham said from the Senate floor of his former colleague and close friend. ADVERTISEMENT Graham used his floor speech, the first comments he's made on the Senate floor since McCain's death, to recount his experiences with the late senator, including visiting troops in foreign countries and McCain’s failed 2008 presidential bid. “People remember his concession speech as much as anything else,” Graham said. “John said that night, 'President Obama is now my president.' So he healed the nation at a time he was hurt.” "I learned that failure and success are the different sides of the same coin. ... I have become better from my failures because it teaches us," he said. Graham added that McCain taught him the "foundation" of what makes up a "great person." "To those who are striving as a young person, remember John McCain. He failed a lot, but he never quit," he said. "The reason we're talking about him today and the reason I'm crying is because he was successful in spite of his failures." Graham also used his floor speech to recount McCain’s jokes, including that Arizona is the only state where “mothers tell their children you can never grow up to be president.” He quipped that maybe GOP Sen. Jeff Flake Jeffrey (Jeff) Lane FlakeWhy Republican politicians are sticking with Trump The Hill's 12:30 Report - Presented by Facebook - Republican reactions to Cheney's removal Flake: No greater offense than honesty in today's Republican Party MORE (Ariz.) could break that streak. Senators have spent the past two days coming to the Senate floor to memorialize McCain, who died Saturday after being diagnosed with brain cancer more than a year ago. Asked how he drafted the speech, which appeared to be largely hand written, Graham compared it to a military “action report.” “There's a lot of stuff in there that people need to remember but I just kind of wrote an outline and couldn't go much longer. I mean what killed me was the black. ...I thought I would better than I did and I apologize,” Graham told reporters. McCain’s Senate desk, which Graham stood next to while he spoke, has been covered with a black cloth with white flowers placed in a vase on top. Graham and McCain were close friends and Senate allies, aligning closely on foreign policy and issues like immigration. Graham, during his speech, referred to himself as McCain’s “political wingman, code name little jerk.” “You’ve all got your names and you’ve earned them like I did. ... [We were] lucky enough to walk in his shadow and to witness history up close, to be on the presence of a giant at a time everything around us was so small.” Graham told reporters that he spoke with Cindy McCain directly after his floor speech.