Stubb leaves for US to join senator Graham's funeral

President Alexander Stubb left Finland for the United States to attend the funeral of Senator Lindsey O. Graham in Washington, D.C., said the President Office in a press release on Monday.

Stubb will attend the national funeral service at the Washington National Cathedral on Tuesday.

Graham, a close political ally of President Donald Trump, died on July 12 "from a brief and sudden illness" at the age of 71, reported Xinhua, quoting his office.

Graham, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, was widely recognized as one of the most prominent and influential voices within the Republican Party on defense and foreign policy.

Graham was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2002 and was re-elected in 2008, 2014 and 2020. He formally ran against Trump for the Republican presidential nomination in 2015, but once Trump won the presidency in 2016, he underwent a massive political pivot and started backing the president. In the following years, Graham became one of Trump's most loyal defenders and closest confidants.

Graham was seeking a fifth six-year Senate term in the November midterm election. His sudden death leaves an immediate vacuum on the ballot, forcing South Carolina Republicans to quickly find a replacement nominee.