Jeff Sessions on Alabama Senate runoff race with Tommy Tuberville: My opponent is hiding
Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions joins Martha MacCallum with insight on 'The Story.'
Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions raised eyebrows Monday when he vowed to defend President Trump's agenda in Congress -- despite the president's endorsement of Sessions' opponent in Tuesday's GOP Senate runoff in Alabama.
Appearing on "The Story", Sessions slammed Republican Tommy Tuberville as "wrong on trade, wrong on immigration, wrong on China," and emphasized that "he's not been advocating for the Trump agenda that I have been advocating for."
SESSIONS DISMISSES TRUMP'S 'JUVENILE INSULTS'
Over the weekend, Trump called him a "disaster" on Twitter while offering support for Tuberville, the former head football coach at Auburn University.
"Jeff Sessions is a disaster who has let us all down. We don’t want him back in Washington!" Trump wrote.
Departing from his pattern of tepid responses over years of attacks from his former boss, Sessions responded by tweeting, "I’ve taken the road less traveled, not sought fame or fortune. My honor and integrity are far more important than these juvenile insults. Your scandal-ridden candidate is too cowardly to debate. As you know, Alabama does not take orders from Washington."
When host Martha MacCallum questioned Sessions' support of the president, the former attorney general said, "The president has got strong feelings about this and he gets to express those opinions.
"But," he continued, "Let me tell you, I was for those policies before he announced [his candidacy]. I was the number one choice in the Senate for them. I believe in them. Not because of any personal gain but because I think that they are right for America and Alabama."
Polls have shown Sessions consistently trailing Tuberville ahead of Tuesday's runoff, which was postponed from the end of March due to the coronavirus pandemic.
"He needs stronger voices in the Senate," Sessions said of Trump. " The Senate is not speaking out sufficiently on trade, immigration, China. Those are particularly difficult issues ... those things, I know about, I fought for, I understand them. I will help him.
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"I want him to succeed," he added. "That's the fundamental thing, because it's good for America."
Fox News' Sam Dorman contributed to this report.
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