Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) at a meeting of the Senate Appropriations Committee in the US Capitol.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., on Tuesday discussed the tense relationship between President Donald Trump and Sen. John McCain – and shared the last words he exchanged with his longtime friend and Senate colleague.

"Almost the last thing he said to me was, 'I love you, I have not been cheated,'" Graham said in an emotional interview on NBC's "TODAY."

As a tear rolled down his cheek, Graham expressed his admiration for McCain, the elder statesman and Arizona Republican who died Saturday.

"If I had to pick one person from this great land to explain to someone from a different planet, 'Who are these Americans?' it would be John McCain with an assist from [McCain aide] Mark Salter. He had a romantic view of our nation to his last breath," Graham said.

McCain succumbed to an aggressive form of brain cancer after more than three decades in Congress. The two senators were allies for much of that time, although they occasionally sparred over politics.