WASHINGTON, D.C. — In an interview on the Fox Business program “Lou Dobbs Tonight,” Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions criticized House Speaker Paul Ryan’s refusal to endorse Trump and said that the American people have made their decision.
“I think this was a big mistake, I really do,” Sessions said in regard to Ryan’s comments. “He needs to set a good example for Republicans.”
Yesterday, Speaker Ryan said on CNN that he was not able to support Donald Trump at this time. He claimed that Trump needed to become more like past party nominees such as Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan. Trump and his supporters have lambasted Ryan for his remarks and claim that they only hurt the party’s chances at unity.
Sessions noted that Trump has garnered incredible support from the GOP electorate. He pointed out the fact that Trump has received more votes than any nominee in the party’s history. “Paul Ryan only has one vote,” he added. “It’s the American people that will decide the next election.”
Ryan and many other members of the Republican Party and Conservative movement have criticized Trump for not being sufficiently conservative. Politicians such as Ryan and publications like National Review have claimed that many of Trump’s policies are the antithesis of limited government.
However, Sessions has emphatically refuted this claim and believes that Trump’s brand of populist conservatism is what the people really want. “It’s important to know why Trump has support,” the senator said. “We need leadership that favors the American worker for a change.”
“It’s conservative to favor an immigration policy that favors the national interest. It’s conservative to favor a trade policy that favors American manufacturing, workers jobs and wages. It’s conservative to have a restrained foreign policy,” Sessions stated.
Dobbs noted that Senator Sessions was instrumental in Trump getting the nomination from the very beginning. After endorsing the New York billionaire at a massive Alabama event in February, Sessions has played an integral role in the campaign and has led Trump’s foreign policy team. Such involvement has fueled speculation about Sessions’ potential role in a Trump Administration.
For weeks, the Alabama senator has called for the GOP to unite around its presumptive nominee. “Now is the time for the GOP to embrace this opportunity to win working Americans on a platform of rising wages, American jobs, and the national interest,” he said.
RELATED: Sessions: It’s time for Republicans to unite behind Trump
Sessions full interview on Fox Business can be seen on its website here.
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