Ch. 9 to air Lindsey Graham funeral services in D.C., South Carolina

WASHINGTON — For more than two decades, Sen. Lindsey Graham was one of the most influential people in Washington and on Tuesday his colleagues, friends, family and world leaders will pay tribute to him.

His funeral will be held at the Washington National Cathedral.

>>>You can watch the services here.

President Donald Trump, Sean Hannity and his oldest niece, Emillie Roberts, will deliver tributes to Graham. We’re told each speaker will tell a story and each represent a different aspect of his life.

Sen. Graham grew up watching Billy Graham and we are told that played a big role in his faith foundation. Billy’s son, Franklin, will deliver a reading during the memorial.

One of his pallbearers is Kevin Bishop. He’s a former longtime staffer for Sen. Graham. We spoke to him recently and he said Graham’s impact is immeasurable.

“There also is a small sense of satisfaction or sense that I just know you get to see that this guy grew up in this little tiny town in South Carolina and yet today presidents and prime ministers and kings and queens have lauded him and his work, and that’s a, that’s a story. Only what happened in America, nowhere else,” said Bishop.

Wednesday’s events include a procession through South Carolina, with an F-16 flyover, leading to a final service at the First Baptist Church of Columbia.

Channel 9 will have complete coverage of the services on air and online starting with government reporter Joe Bruno, who will be in Washington; then we’ll have crews in Columbia for the memorials in the Palmetto State.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy are expected to be in attendance along with hundreds of the world’s other most powerful leaders.

Memorial services start Tuesday at 10 a.m. in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. It will be a 30-minute private tribute to honor Graham’s service in the Air Force and more than two decades in the Senate.

At 2 p.m., there is the invitation-only funeral at the National Cathedral. Trump will likely give remarks there about one of his closest allies and friends.

Even though Graham had a direct line to leaders across the globe, his friends say his top priority was always South Carolina

“He was South Carolina first,” said Sandy McGarry, with the Lancaster GOP. “He was national. He was international. He was all that, but home was home.”

South Carolinians will pay their respects to Sen. Lindsey Graham on Wednesday in Columbia.

Sen. Lindsey Graham was replaced in the U.S. Senate by his sister, Darline Graham. Sen. Darline Graham is running for the seat and has paused campaign events through Thursday because of the funerals.

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