Tasos Katopodis/ZUMA
With the confirmation process for his Supreme Court nominee in turmoil this week, President Donald Trump wants the public to know that he’s awfully sad. But not about Brett Kavanaugh.
According to a new interview, Trump’s despair remains squarely focused on Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who as the president tells it, has all but vacated his position.
“I don’t have an Attorney General. It’s very sad,” Trump lamented to The Hill on Tuesday before suggesting that he initially hesitated to appoint Sessions to the post. The president’s remarks appeared to cast Sessions as a confused elderly man who had suffered through his confirmation hearings.
“I’m so sad over Jeff Sessions because he came to me,” Trump said. “He was the first Senator that endorsed me. And he wanted to be Attorney General, and I didn’t see it.”
“And then he went through the nominating process and he did very poorly. I mean, he was mixed up and confused, and people that worked with him for, you know, a long time in the Senate were not nice to him, but he was giving very confusing answers. Answers that should have been easily answered. And that was a rough time for him.”
The interview is the latest in a long series of public and private attacks against Sessions. Trump’s ongoing anger was first prompted by Sessions’ May 2017 decision to recuse himself from all matters concerning the Russia investigations after it became clear he failed to disclose his contacts with Russian officials during the campaign.
