Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. Yes, I am being sarcastic. I have said many times that Jeff Sessions will go down as the worst cabinet appointment in modern America history. If polls are to be believed, a majority of GOP primary voters in Alabama share my sentiment:
Former Auburn head football coach Tommy Tuberville has a significant lead over former U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions ahead of a March 31 runoff, according to a new poll.
The survey, conducted by Montgomery-based polling firm Cygnal, showed Tuberville with 52% of the vote of likely Republican primary voters. 40% favored Sessions. 9% were undecided.
Like many in Republican circles, I was an admirer of Sessions and was genuinely thrilled when his nomination for Attorney General was announced. I began to rethink my opinion of him when he recused himself and, essentially, threw the young Trump administration to the wolves. But I still held out hope that Sessions would help deliver the MAGA agenda. It all changed in June 2017 when Sessions insisted on appearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee. At the time I wrote,
For many Trump supporters, watching Jeff Sessions forcefully defend his honor increased their admiration for the man. For me, it had the opposite effect. By the time he finished his testimony, my admiration had turned into an intense dislike. I did not see a selfless public servant defending his good name. Instead, what I saw was a self-centered individual with a grandiose opinion of himself more interested in protecting his reputation than serving the administration he joined.
Jeff Sessions got his dream job and wasn’t going to let anything get in the way of his personal ambition. My assessment was confirmed six months later by Michael Wolff in his 2018 book ‘Fire and Fury’ on page 155:
“And Sessions was certainly not going to risk his job over the silly Russia business, with its growing collection of slapstick Trump figures. God knows what those character were up to – nothing good, everybody assumed. Best to have nothing to do with it.
Without consulting the president or, ostensibly, anyone in the White House, Sessions decided to move as far as possible out of harm’s way. On March 2, the day after the Post story, he recused himself from anything having to do with the Russia investigation.”
For those who still insist that Sessions was loyal to Trump, here is passage from Michael Wolff’s second book, ‘Siege’, about the Trump administration on page 42:
“During one especially tense period, Sessions sent word back to the president that if he persisted with his badgering and threats, he would resign and recommend the president’s impeachment.”
Doesn’t sound very loyal to me. Sessions served at the pleasure of the president. Once Trump made no secret that he was unhappy with him, why didn’t Sessions do the honorable thing and resign? Instead, he made sure he stayed on long enough until the Democrats took control of the House and, thus, Trump would be blocked from doing anything about immigration. Coincidence? I think not.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not a Trump cultist who is upset with Sessions simply because he betrayed the president. For me, this is not about Trump. It is about the country. Sessions was given an opportunity to drain the swamp and instead he went AWOL. If he was truly interested in solving the immigration problem, why didn’t he move to DHS when Kelly left? Reports at the time indicated that the president offered Sessions a lateral move. Instead, Jeffy chose to saddle the country with an ineffective, part-time Attorney General for two years. I will never forgive Sessions for what he did to the country. Hopefully, neither will the GOP voters in Alabama.
