Trump attacks Jeff Sessions after he advances to runoff in Alabama primary

Donald Trump made clear that there is no love lost between himself and Jeff Sessions, after he attacked his former attorney general for having a disappointing finish in the GOP Senate primary in Alabama Tuesday night.

“This is what happens to someone who loyally gets appointed Attorney General of the United States & then doesn’t have the wisdom or courage to stare down & end the phony Russia Witch Hunt. Recuses himself on FIRST DAY in office, and the Mueller Scam begins!” Trump tweeted Wednesday morning.

Sessions, who is running to try to win back the Senate seat he vacated to join Trump’s administration, came in second behind former Auburn University football coach Tommy Tuberville.

Because Tuberville did not receive a majority of the vote, the race now heads to a runoff election on March 31.

Trump, who early on made it clear that he did not support a Sessions comeback bid, is once again letting Sessions know he doesn’t have Trump’s support.

Trump fired Sessions in November 2018, after Sessions’ recusal from the Russia investigation helped lead to the appointment of Robert Mueller as special counsel.

Sessions has said he does not regret recusing himself from the investigation, despite the blowback he’s received from Trump.

And he has strongly tied himself to Trump in his primary bid, even as Trump has repeatedly expressed how much he doesn’t like Sessions and regrets appointing him attorney general.

In fact, the GOP primary in the state turned into a contest of who could bear hug Trump the most.

Tuberville talked about how he wants to help Trump “drain the swamp.” (Trump has not “drained the swamp” while in office, and instead has embraced corrupt politicians and gotten rid of regulations aimed at preventing corruption.)

GOP Rep. Bradley Byrne, who failed to make the runoff, also embraced Trump, saying he would help Trump fight for “Alabama values.”

The winner of the GOP Senate primary runoff will face Democratic Sen. Doug Jones in November.

Jones, who won a special election to replace Sessions, is the most vulnerable Democratic Senate incumbent up for reelection this fall.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.