Ahead of the 2016 presidential election, several GOP influencers reportedly attempted to push Jeff Sessions toward presidential bid. Now we know that President Trump’s top advisor, Steve Bannon, was among them.
A recent New York Times report revealed that, prior to meeting with Trump, Bannon believed that the then-Alabama senator could change the culture in Washington. His prediction came with a catch: he didn’t think Sessions could win in a general election.
“Look, you’re not going to win,” Bannon reportedly told Sessions. “But you can get the Republican nomination. And once you control the apparatus, you can make fundamental changes. Trade is No. 100 on the party’s list. You can make it number one. Immigration is number 10. We can make it number two.”
“You’ll be the anti-candidate,” he added.
Bannon recalled that Sessions’ response to running for president was consistent with his answer to other Republican leaders.
“It was pretty obvious by the end of the night that another candidate would have to do it,” Bannon told the Times. He said that he first locked on to Trump at the Conservative Political Action Conference, two months after approaching Sessions.
Prior to supporting Trump, prominent conservative talk host Laura Ingraham also called on Sessions to run for president.
“Is there anyone out there who is better than Jeff Sessions on any of these issues? He’s great,” Ingraham said in 2014. “I think someone like Sessions could probably attract Democrats, Hispanics who are here legally who are tired of these stupid trade agreements and who have had their own wages undercut by illegal immigration, African Americans, certainly I think a lot of Tea Party people. Sessions is one of the few people to actually say it like it is.”
Sessions was confirmed as the U.S. Attorney General early in February.
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