Trump reportedly thinks Jeff Sessions is poorly educated and talks funny
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
President Trump "loves the poorly educated," as he so bluntly reminded supporters in a 2016 speech. But he's making an exception for non-Ivy Leaguer Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
The Justice Department head just can't catch a break with the president. He's been slammed as "weak" on everything and is even hidden from the Trump at Cabinet meetings. That's because Trump apparently hates Sessions, right down to his "marbles in his mouth" Southern accent, aides tell Politico.
Ever since the attorney general recused himself from the Justice Department's Russia investigation last year, paving the way for the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, Trump has consistently hated on Sessions. What started as petty tweeted insults has turned into declarations that Sessions "never took control of the Justice Department," as the president told Fox & Friends last week. Even Sessions' former GOP friends have turned against him.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
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.
Now, it's apparently gotten down to personal attacks on Sessions' Alabama roots. Trump has told aides that he wants Sessions, who was born in Selma, Alabama, to avoid TV appearances because he "talks like he has marbles in his mouth," Politico reports. He also doesn't like that Sessions went to the University of Alabama, preferring Ivy League associations over the Crimson Tide. Trump has aired these gripes to "any senator who will listen," a GOP aide tells Politico.
It's a funny complaint coming from the president who's publicly touted his Southern supporters as "the true elite," Daily Intelligencer's Jonathan Chait opines. But behind the closed castle doors, Chait says Trump just "cannot stand the stink" of the working-class people who support him.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
-
Trump’s fuel blockade puts Cuba in crisis modeIN THE SPOTLIGHT Plummeting tourism, scrambling airlines and rolling blackouts are pushing Cuban society to the brink
-
‘The mark’s significance is psychological, if that’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
How did ‘wine moms’ become the face of anti-ICE protests?Today’s Big Question Women lead the resistance to Trump’s deportations
-
Judge blocks Trump suit for Michigan voter rollsSpeed Read A Trump-appointed federal judge rejected the administration’s demand for voters’ personal data
-
US to send 200 troops to Nigeria to train armySpeed Read Trump has accused the West African government of failing to protect Christians from terrorist attacks
-
Grand jury rejects charging 6 Democrats for ‘orders’ videoSpeed Read The jury refused to indict Democratic lawmakers for a video in which they urged military members to resist illegal orders
-
Judge rejects California’s ICE mask ban, OKs ID lawSpeed Read Federal law enforcement agents can wear masks but must display clear identification
-
Lawmakers say Epstein files implicate 6 more menSpeed Read The Trump department apparently blacked out the names of several people who should have been identified
-
Japan’s Takaichi cements power with snap election winSpeed Read President Donald Trump congratulated the conservative prime minister
-
Trump sues IRS for $10B over tax record leaksSpeed Read The president is claiming ‘reputational and financial harm’ from leaks of his tax information between 2018 and 2020
-
Trump, Senate Democrats reach DHS funding dealSpeed Read The deal will fund most of the government through September and the Department of Homeland Security for two weeks
