Unreleased footage shows Senator Graham praising Iran war

Previously unreleased documentary footage shows the late Senator Lindsey Graham privately celebrating the start of the U.S.-Israeli military campaign against Iran and actively pressing for its escalation in the months before his death. The recordings, filmed over several years by British documentarian Alex Holder, reveal Graham's central role in advocating for the conflict and his close advisory relationships with former President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In one clip from February, shortly after the opening strikes on Iran, Graham reacted with apparent elation. "Look what we've done here. I almost cried," he told the film crew. He recounted a conversation with Trump, saying the president was "jacked" and called the war "the best thing I have ever done." Graham added, "He loves blowing stuff up." The senator also compared Trump and Netanyahu to historical allies Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill.

The footage, drawn from over 400 hours of material for a project titled "Lindsey's Game," includes a phone call from March 4. In that call, Graham informed Netanyahu of his plan to travel to Florida to urge Trump to join Israeli operations...