When it comes to his frequent insults of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, President Trump comes across as weak and indecisive. Illustrating as much is Trump’s new statement to Hill.tv that “I don’t have an attorney general, it’s very sad.”
First off, the statement is very silly. Trump obviously does have an attorney general: the guy that Trump himself picked. But Trump also has authority to fire Sessions should he so desire. So for Trump to indict Sessions on Twitter but not in a formal relief of Sessions, makes Trump look weak.
[More: Trump piles on: I’m disappointed in Jeff Sessions for ‘numerous reasons’]
Trump’s tweets also make him look ignorant. After all, if Trump’s prerequisite for an attorney general was personal loyalty above all else, he should have established that understanding with Sessions before selecting him. That he did not speaks to a glaring failure of judgment.
But it gets worse. Because when Trump says he doesn’t believe Sessions is “his” attorney general, Trump unveils an unpleasant mentality towards what he believes the job of an attorney general actually is. Namely, it shows that Trump doesn’t believe that the attorney general’s job is to uphold the law as a chief executive, but to serve Trump’s own whims. Specifically, Trump’s desire to have special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation either corralled or ended, and investigations opened against Democrats like Hillary Clinton. This evident belief that law enforcement should be Trump’s personal shield and sword reeks of political cronyism, of the very kind Trump pledged to drain from Washington.
Trump’s action here is counter to his own policy objectives. Consider that Jeff Sessions is very popular with his former Republican colleagues in Congress. So when Trump rails against his attorney general on Twitter, the president immediately alienates senators whose votes he needs to enact his legislative priorities.
Finally, why does Trump even bother with the tweets? They are a negative distraction from his very real domestic and foreign policy successes, and they obviously aren’t going to achieve their objective of forcing Sessions to resign. In short, Trump should focus his tweets on things that make him look good and promote his agenda. For example: the economy, and his policy success with India.
