WASHINGTON _ President Donald Trump endorsed the opponent of his former attorney general, Jeff Sessions, in the runoff for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination in Alabama.
Tommy Tuberville, Trump tweeted Tuesday night, "was a terrific head football coach at Auburn University. He is a REAL LEADER who will never let MAGA/KAG, or our Country, down! Tommy will protect your Second Amendment .... (which is under siege)"
The two Twitter posts did not mention Sessions by name, who has been the target of the president's fury ever since he recused himself from the inquiry into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
Both Sessions and Tuberville are running for a chance to defeat Sen. Doug Jones, a Democrat, who won the seat in a 2017 special election after Sessions gave it up to become Trump's first attorney general. Trump remains popular in the solidly Republican state.
Sessions recused himself from the Russia inquiry after coming under fire for not telling Congress of his contacts with Moscow's ambassador to the U.S. during the Trump campaign. The inquiry ultimately led to the investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller. Sessions was ousted late in 2018.
Trump mocked Sessions when he was forced into the runoff _ to be held March 31 _ in last week's primary.
"This is what happens to someone who loyally gets appointed Attorney General of the United States & then doesn't have the wisdom or courage to stare down & end the phony Russia Witch Hunt," Trump said in a tweet. "Recuses himself on FIRST DAY in office, and the Mueller Scam begins!"
Tuberville has used Trump's firing of Sessions in campaign commercials and has supported Trump's plans to "investigate the investigators," while Sessions has attacked Tuberville over immigration and for previous criticisms of Trump.
Sessions was one of Trump's earliest prominent supporters, and has repeatedly touted that distinction in television ads.
