(PresidentialWire.com)- It has been quite the fall for Jeff Sessions, the former attorney general under President Donald Trump.
On Tuesday night, he was officially defeated in Alabama’s Republican primary for a Senate seat. In the runoff election, Sessions lost to Tommy Tuberville, the former head football coach at Auburn University. When the race was called Tuesday night, Tuberville had a lead over Sessions of 20 percentage points.
While Tuberville finished ahead in the March 3 Alabama primary, he didn’t garner enough votes to avoid a runoff. That didn’t seem to matter, though, as he handily defeated Sessions.
Tuberville, who had no prior political experience, was endorsed by Trump earlier this year. The president has consistently bashed Sessions, who has drawn Trump’s ire ever since he recused himself from the Department of Justice’s investigation into Russian election interference. The president has repeatedly called hiring sessions as attorney general the biggest mistake he’s made during his presidency.
He even repeated that statement this week, saying on a call with reporters:
“I will tell you I got to know Jeff Sessions very well. I made a mistake when I put him in as the attorney general. He had his chance, and he blew it.”
And on Tuesday after Tuberville’s win was sealed, Trump tweeted:
“Tommy Tuberville WON big against Jeff Sessions. Will be a GREAT Senator for the incredible people of Alabama. @DougJones is a terrible Senator who is just a Super Liberal puppet for Schumer & Pelosi. Represents Alabama poorly. On to November 3rd.”
Doug Jones is the current Democratic senator who represents Alabama, and will now face off against Tuberville in the General Election in November. Jones won a special election in 2017, and Republicans know winning back the seat is extremely important in the upcoming election.
For his part, Sessions has continually defended Trump throughout his bid to reclaim a seat on the Senate. In a concession speech Tuesday night, he even defended his decision to recuse himself from the Russia investigation as attorney general.
He said:
“I was honored to serve the people of Alabama in the Senate, and I was extraordinarily proud of the accomplishments that we had as attorney general. I leave elected office with my integrity intact. I feel good about it. I hold my head high. I took the road less traveled, didn’t try to excuse myself or get in a fight or undermine the leader of our country and the great work he has done.”
Now that he is no longer in contention for the Senate seat, Sessions said he’s looking forward to “helping Tommy Tuberville win this race. It’s important for Alabama, but it’s also important for America.”
This, of course, is a change in tone from what Sessions said during the primary election process. He said Tuberville was weak because he refused to debate and is unprepared to handle all the policy issues that come up in the Senate.
