Influential Sen. Jeff Sessions believes that Donald Trump can beat Hillary Rodham Clinton in the general election because he has tapped into working Americans angry with Washington inaction.
Asked by Maria Bartiromo, host of a Fox Business morning show, if the businessman could knock Clinton off in the fall, the Alabama Republican said “I think so.”
Sessions said that Trump has seized on issues that the senator believes is key to winning the presidency — pushing to limit immigration and opposition to the huge trade deal known as the Trans Pacific Partnership.
He noted that both Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz have come for enforcement of immigration laws and against TPP, and he believes it has helped them.
Wednesday on @MorningsMaria: @tonyblairoffice, @Reince, @SenatorSessions, @DarrellIssa and more!
— Mornings with Maria (@MorningsMaria) February 24, 2016
But he was only asked about Trump in the fall fight in the Wednesday interview:
Maria Bartiromo: Senator, do you think Donald Trump can actually win the general election, can he beat Hillary Clinton?
Sen. Jeff Sessions: Well I think so, if what happened in Nevada…it looks like working people who may have been voting Democrat voted for Trump in huge numbers. They say, it’s correct, you cannot win an election with the simple Republican base. You have to have a nominee who can reach beyond that base. Trump is reaching out to working Americans in a way others so far have not been able to do. That’s the way you get over 50 percent.
I’ve been talking about that for seven years. Our consultant ‘geniuses’ said you’ve got to be more moderate, you have to have more amnesty, and that’s the way to win elections. I think Trump is proving that’s not so.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
