Trump: Sessions is an 'honest man' and victim of 'a total witch hunt'

President Trump admitted in a statement Thursday night that Attorney General Jeff Sessions could have responded to a question posed during his confirmation hearing "more accurately," but blamed Democrats for bringing attention to the fact that Sessions said he never interacted with Russian officials during the campaign when he actually met the Russian ambassador to the United States twice.

"Jeff Sessions is an honest man," Trump said. "He did not say anything wrong. He could have stated his response more accurately, but it was clearly not intentional." Trump quickly turned his attention elsewhere, claiming that the "whole narrative is a way of saving face for Democrats losing an election that everyone thought they were supposed to win." He went on to accuse Democrats of "overplaying their hand" and "losing their grip on reality," and declared that the "real story is all of the illegal leaks of classified and other information. It is a total witch hunt!" Earlier in the day, Trump said he had "total" confidence in Sessions.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up