Documentary footage filmed by Alex Holder shows Sen. Lindsey Graham privately celebrating the opening American and Israeli strikes on Iran and likening former President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill. The clips include Graham recounting a call in which Trump reportedly called the strikes "the best thing I've ever done," and a conversation outlining an objective to target Iranian cities. CNN reported Holder described Graham's push for military action as "consequential."
New Footage Shows Lindsey Graham Comparing Trump and Netanyahu to WWII Leaders While Celebrating Strikes on Iran
Photo Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Newly released documentary footage filmed by Alex Holder captures Sen. Lindsey Graham privately praising the opening wave of American and Israeli strikes on Iran and drawing dramatic historical comparisons between contemporary leaders and World War II statesmen.
The clips, which The Wall Street Journal highlighted after Holder recorded Graham for hundreds of hours beginning in 2023, show the South Carolina Republican laughing in his office and declaring, "We've done it." In the same exchange he adds, "I almost cried. I mean, how long have we been pushing this?"
The footage includes a recounting of a same-day phone call with former President Donald Trump. According to the recording, Graham said Trump told him, "Best thing I've ever done," and that he "loves blowing stuff up." Graham had a long record of urging a tougher U.S. posture toward Tehran, and the clips portray him as a vocal proponent of military action.
"President Trump, when he gets into the zone, he listens, he asks good questions, no tweeting. No drama, he's been a great wartime president," Graham is heard saying. He also offers a sweeping analogy: "Trump and Bibi are like Roosevelt and Churchill. I mean, they're the right two guys to confront this evil."
In other footage cited by CNN, Graham outlines a tactical objective to Jake Sullivan, described in the clips as the U.S. national security adviser: "What we're trying to do is just get a few cities to fall in the next month." That specific prediction — that Iran's government would "start losing control of some cities" within weeks — did not materialize, according to subsequent reporting.
Documentarian Alex Holder told CNN that Graham's advocacy was "consequential" in pressing for the campaign. "He really was pushing for this war. And when the bombs started falling, you can see how happy he was," Holder said in a television interview.
Note on Reporting: Some versions of coverage describe Graham as having died recently from an aortic dissection. Those claims were present in the source material provided; reporters should verify any such details independently before publication.
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