US President Donald Trump appeared to nod off during the funeral service for the late Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, triggering a massive response online. The 80-year-old was present as American officials and international dignitaries assembled at Washington National Cathedral.
Among those attending the service were Justice Brett Kavanaugh, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Clips circulated on social media from the funeral showed Mr Trump gradually blinking and shutting his eyes, seemingly drifting off to sleep.
Online backlash
This sparked backlash online, with one individual remarking, "He's struggling". Another quipped: "Again, trump has more oil coming off his face than there is going through the Strait of Hormuz."
Eulogy and anecdotes
The US President also gave a eulogy at the funeral, during which he jested about having revealed the late senator's phone number at a 2015 rally, when both were vying for the Republican presidential nomination. "His phone exploded," he said before disclosing the digits once more in case "anybody wants to give it a shot."
He added: "It was Lindsey who had the last laugh because while I blew up his phone all for one day, we became great friends, and Lindsey did not stop calling me for the next 10 years. It was not easy."
Mr Trump described Mr Graham as a "tough cookie" who "never saw a war he didn't like", reports the Express. He continued: "But no matter how heated things got in Washington, virtually everyone, Republican or Democrat, liked Lindsey. Well, not everybody, but it sounds good. Not everybody.
"He was a tough cookie, Okay? I have to veer from this for a second. He was a tough cookie, Darline, but he was beautiful. I will tell you, he never saw a war that he didn't like. Only his true friends would understand that. But he wanted it for the good of our country."
Tribute and legacy
The Republican recalled Mr Graham as a "respected statesman, a giant of the United States Senate and a true American original". He added: "[He was] the first person to make you laugh and one of the last people that you really ever wanted to fight."
Mr Trump concluded his tribute: "As a brother, a senator, a warrior, and a patriot, he withstood every last test, every single test that you can go through in every trial... Lindsey, we love you. God bless you."
Lindsey Graham was one of the most recognisable Republicans in Washington: a long-serving US Senator for South Carolina with a reputation for tough-talking, flag-waving foreign policy views. He died of an aortic dissection (a tear in the body's main artery) caused by cardiovascular disease on July 11, at the age of 71. Graham notably backed strict limits on abortion rights, pushed for tougher immigration rules, and supported traditional Republican tax-cutting agendas.
