A report published Thursday by the New York Times says that President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign is requesting former Attorney General Jeff Sessions stop tying himself to the president in his quest to win back the seat Sessions once held.
The Times was able to acquire the official letter that Trump campaign chief operating officer Michael Glassner sent to the Sessions campaign.
Glassner criticized Sessions for “the delusional assertion that you are President ‘Trump’s #1 supporter,’” according to the Times’ piece.
The Sessions campaign had promoted on social media images touting the president’s support, and according to the Times, had distributed a mailer that mentioned Trump 22 times.
“We only assume your campaign is doing this to confuse President Trump’s loyal supporters in Alabama into believing the president supports your candidacy in the upcoming primary runoff election. Nothing could be further from the truth,” wrote Glassner.
A spokeswoman for the Sessions campaign told the Times that Sessions “is indeed one of the strongest supporters of President Trump and his agenda” and “no one can change that.”
The spokesperson pointed out that voters in Alabama have bucked President Trump’s endorsement twice before: when they picked Roy Moore over Luther Strange and when they picked Doug Jones over Roy Moore.
Then-Senator Jeff Sessions was the first United States Senator to endorse then-candidate Trump during the 2016 campaign. Sessions served as Trump’s first attorney general from the beginning of the administration until fall 2018.
Sessions’ handling of the investigations into the Trump campaign while serving as attorney general incurred the president’s anger and prompted several tweets expressing strong disapproval.
In early March, Trump endorsed former Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville, who is Sessions’ opponent in the upcoming primary runoff election on July 14.
The winner of that runoff will go on to face Senator Doug Jones (D-AL) in November.
The full letter from the Trump campaign COO can be read here.
Update 2:01 p.m.:
Sessions campaign spokesperson John Rogers sent Yellowhammer News the following statement:
The people of Alabama are going to decide this race, not Washington. Alabamians are an independent lot and they make their own decisions. Our campaign is resolutely focused on the important challenges facing America, and the critical issues to Alabama and our economy.
There’s no doubt that Jeff Sessions is ready to lead from Day One.
Jeff Sessions is the only person in this race who has the knowledge and toughness to hold China accountable for its cover-up of the Wuhan Virus, to end illegality at the border, and to defend the great American heritage of law, liberty, and prosperity.
That is what this race is all about. Tommy Tuberville will not be able to hide his lack of preparedness for this role. Tommy should quit hiding from these issues and the voters of Alabama—it’s time for him to man up, and debate.
Editor’s note: The Sessions campaign advised that the letter in question was in the process of being mailed before the president’s endorsement of Tuberville. The fundraising letter was reportedly mailed on March 6, and the Trump endorsement came on March 10.
Henry Thornton is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can contact him by email: [email protected] or on Twitter @HenryThornton95.
