Lindsey Graham says Trump's needling of Jeff Sessions is a 'sign of weakness'

President Trump has been publicly toying with Attorney General Jeff Sessions this week, referring to the top Justice official as "beleaguered," criticizing Sessions' decision to recuse himself from the Russia investigation, and professing from the White House Rose Garden that he is "disappointed" in the former Alabama senator.

But when asked about Sessions' future in the Trump administration, Trump demurred, saying, "Time will tell." Many of Sessions' former Republican colleagues have come to his defense, perhaps none more strongly than Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). While Graham said in a statement Tuesday that Sessions was "one of the most decent people I've ever met in my political life," he took his rhetoric a step further Wednesday by directly criticizing the president's "weakness."

"I would fire somebody that I did not believe could serve me well, rather than trying to humiliate them in public, which is a sign of weakness," Graham said:

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

In tweets early Tuesday morning, Trump had denounced Sessions for being "very weak" on Hillary Clinton's "crimes." Perhaps, per Graham's comments, it takes one to know one.