Sen. Lindsey Graham says he urged Trump to 'speak up' about vaccines after 'pretty tough days' following COVID-19 diagnosis

• Sen. Lindsey Graham on Thursday spoke publicly for the first time since his breakthrough COVID-19 infection.
• He said he's urged former President Donald Trump to "speak up" and promote the vaccine, AP reported.
• "No one's being asked to go off to fight radical Islam or fight a foreign enemy. We're being asked to make responsible medical decisions," he said.

Lindsey Graham, the first senator to announce a positive COVID-19 diagnosis after being inoculated, said in a Thursday interview with the Associated Press that he experienced some "pretty tough days" and felt "achy and kind of yucky" but is now feeling "much better."

"It went from sort of a mild sinus infection until just a full-blown, feeling like crap," Graham told the Associated Press.

The South Carolina Republican said former President Donald Trump called him "every day" to check on his condition, AP reporter Meg Kinnard said on Twitter. Graham said he's urging Trump to "speak up" and promote COVID-19 vaccines, which his administration helped to develop.

"He's very proud of that accomplishment," Graham said, referring to the Trump administration's work on Operation Warp Speed.

The former president has issued statements highlighting his role in helping to develop the vaccine, but unlike all four other former presidents, he did not get the shot publicly - which his former HHS secretary, Alex Azar, says he should have done.

Graham, who received the two-dose Pfizer vaccine in December 2020 as soon as it became available to members of Congress, announced on August 2 that he had tested positive for COVID-19.

"I feel like I have a sinus infection and at present time I have mild symptoms. I will be quarantining for ten days. I am very glad I was vaccinated because without vaccination I am certain I would not feel as well as I do now. My symptoms would be far worse," he tweeted at the time.

Graham began experiencing "flu-like symptoms" last Saturday, following a gathering with several other senators on Sen. Joe Manchin's houseboat in Washington, DC. "Everybody there was vaccinated," Graham told the AP, declining to comment further.

On Thursday, Graham again encouraged Americans to get the shot if they haven't already "for freedom's sake." He also contrasted the ease of getting the vaccine with fighting foreign wars, according to Kinnard.

"No one's being asked to go off to fight radical Islam or fight a foreign enemy. We're being asked to make responsible medical decisions," he told the AP. "Take the vaccine."