Feud with Jeff Sessions sparks fears Trump will go soft on immigration
by W. James Antle III | Jul 25, 2017, 9:13 PM
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A wide array of conservatives defended Sessions, a former Republican senator of Alabama, especially on Capitol Hill. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Trump faced pushback Tuesday from immigration hawks over his treatment of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, an architect of his campaign's border control policies and key restrictionist member of the Cabinet.
"Sessions's presence in the administration has been consolation for many upset by Trump's various deviations" on immigration, argued Mark Krikorian of the Center for Immigration Studies before enumerating some policy disagreements with the president. "Well, at least Sessions is attorney general … ‘Well, at least Judge Jeannine doesn't have quite the same ring."
"AG Sessions must be allowed to implement the immigration policy agenda that was instrumental in President Trump's election victory," tweeted the Federation for American Immigration Reform.
"Mr. President, do your job and let Jeff Sessions do his," the group added with the hashtag "Save Sessions."
"Despite being better on immigration than Trump is, Sessions is very well liked in the Senate," quipped columnist Ann Coulter. "Trump is not." She also argued that son-in-law and senior adviser Jared "Kushner's decision to fire [FBI Director James] Comey that brought the Independent Counsel, not Sessions recusing himself months earlier" and pointed out that Trump recanted on prosecuting Hillary Clinton months ago.
A wide array of conservatives defended Sessions, a former Republican senator of Alabama, especially on Capitol Hill. But immigration control advocates make up a significant part of Trump's base and taking a hard line on the issue helped the president distinguish himself in last year's GOP primaries.
Trump's formal immigration plan was substantially borrowed from Sessions. Some of his top aides, like domestic policy adviser Stephen Miller, came from Sessions' Senate office. Yet Sessions himself has increasingly fallen out of favor with Trump, apparently over his recusal from the investigation into Russian interference with the U.S. presidential election.
The president has said in media interviews that he wouldn't have named Sessions attorney general if he knew the Alabama Republican was going to recuse himself on Russia. Trump has also said the "beleaguered" Sessions was too "weak" in going after leakers and the Clintons.
One Republican strategist who requested anonymity to speak candidly expressed optimism that the concern about Sessions will reach far beyond Republicans in Congress, movement conservatives and activists interested in niche immigration issues.
"Sessions is a good guy but Trump is really the big name with the base," the strategist told the Washington Examiner.
Indeed, supporters chanted "Build the wall" in Youngstown, Ohio Tuesday evening hours after Trump's latest public criticisms of Sessions. Trump even questioned whether Sessions' early endorsement — the attorney general was the first important Washington figure to back the president — was motivated by loyalty or the allure of big local crowd sizes.
Incoming communications director Anthony Scaramucci and new White House press secretary Sarah Sanders both acknowledged Trump's irritation. "The president wants his Cabinet secretaries to have his back," Scaramucci told reporters.
Still, Trump's first on-camera expression of disappointment in Sessions came as the attorney general announced a new crackdown on sanctuary cities, a name for local jurisdictions that don't fully cooperate with federal immigration enforcement. This is a top priority for immigration hawks.
"The conservatives I know who are most upset about the prospect of Sessions' removal fear that Trump will replace him with a soft-liner on immigration," writes Paul Mirengoff. They don't trust Trump on immigration anymore, and they trust the New Yorkers who increasingly surround him even less. They see Sessions as a bulwark against the immigration squishes."
Mirengoff opined that "Sessions endorsed Trump, not because of those ‘massive numbers,' but primarily because Trump took the strongest, most nationalistic line against immigration. Now, Sessions' demise could usher in a new softness on immigration under Trump."
Breitbart's coverage has largely sided with Sessions over Trump, the generally pro-Trump website's Washington editor describing the attorney general as a "man who embodies the movement that elected Donald Trump president."
"Sessions won conservatives over to Trump because he gave him credibility on immigration," argued National Review editor-at-large John O'Sullivan, who added that if the attorney general goes "expect betrayal."
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