By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions recently sat down with Politico’s Glenn Thrush. Sessions defended Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and has words of warning to Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R from Wisconsin).
Sen. Sessions said, “I think [Ryan] needs to recognize, on some of these issues, Trump is where the Republicans are and if you’re going to be a Republican leader you should be supportive of that.”
Senator Sessions was the first member of the U.S. Senate to endorse Trump, helping lead the billionaire businessman to a blowout victory in the southern states, including Alabama. U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, despite an unexpected win in the Iowa GOP, only won Texas and Oklahoma despite a campaign that had focuses heavily on winning the support of evangelicals and southern tea party groups.
Sessions said, “My advice (for Speaker Ryan) is to listen and accept the will of the American people, the Republican voters — the Republican Party is the Republican voters.”
In response to Speaker Ryan’s assertion that Ryan not Trump represented conservative values, Sessions said, “Give me a break! A lot of our drift within our party has gotten away from [the will of the voters]. … I think the leaders in all parties tend to adjust to reality. They just have to or they won’t remain in office. … Already many are sensing it.”
Sen. Sessions is warning his fellow GOP Senators not to vote for the controversial Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement. Sessions told Thrush that a vote for the TPP would be a mistake for Senators seeking reelection, “It would endanger you — yes, I think they would have a hard time getting elected.”
Sessions said that 2012 GOP nominee, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney failed to connect with lower wage voters. “Romney didn’t get beyond the numbers. He couldn’t get 50 percent. Romney got killed by the under-$50,000-a-year-income voter. He just got killed in that. You cannot win. You cannot be president of the United States if people below $50,000 don’t think you care about them and you have no real communication that motivates them to vote for you. And that’s the trend we’ve been on, and Trump has broken that.”
The full Politico story can be found here.
Donald Trump has not yet announced who he will pick as his Vice Presidential running mate; but on Tuesday he said that Jeff Sessions, “Was a fantastic person” and is, “Someone I would certainly consider,” for vice president.
Sen. Sessions told CNN that it would be an honor to be chosen as Trump’s vice president but said that he has not talked with Trump about serving in a Trump administration.
Both Sessions and Trump are 69 years old. Sessions is heading the Alabama delegation to the Republican National Convention in Cleveland.
Jefferson “Jeff” Beauregard Sessions III is a former Alabama Attorney General, former Alabama Republican Party Chairman, and former U.S. Attorney for Alabama’s southern district.
The popular Senator Jeff Sessions was reelected in 2014 without any Republican or Democratic opponent. He was first elected to the Senate in 1996.
