President Trump said Tuesday that he never called Attorney General Jeff Sessions any of the phrases author Bob Woodward accused him of using in his book set to release next Tuesday.
“The already discredited Woodward book, so many lies and phony sources, has me calling Jeff Sessions ‘mentally retarded’ and ‘a dumb southerner.’ I said NEITHER, never used those terms on anyone, including Jeff, and being a southerner is a GREAT thing. He made this up to divide!” Trump posted to Twitter Tuesday evening.
[Related: Senate GOP hits Trump over Sessions ‘dumb southerner’ remark]
The already discredited Woodward book, so many lies and phony sources, has me calling Jeff Sessions “mentally retarded” and “a dumb southerner.” I said NEITHER, never used those terms on anyone, including Jeff, and being a southerner is a GREAT thing. He made this up to divide!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 5, 2018
So far, reports on excerpts from the book “Fear: Trump in the White House,” said that both Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and White House chief of staff John Kelly made inflammatory comments about Trump.
Both officials released statements denouncing the claims from Woodward’s book, which Trump said was proof that the book is “discredited.”
Recently, there have been reports that Trump has been bringing up previous thoughts he had on firing Sessions.
The president has repeatedly said that he would not have chosen Sessions as his attorney general had he known he was going to recuse himself from the Russia investigation.
Many reports indicate that White House counsel Don McGahn was the man keeping Trump from firing Sessions. McGahn is set to leave his position at the White House after Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation this fall.
