Mary Orndorff Troyan

Montgomery Advertiser

WASHINGTON -- Donald Trump’s success vanquishing the rest of the Republican presidential field proves a new brand of conservatism is on the rise and the party establishment should get on board, according to the only senator to endorse Trump's candidacy.

Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, whose name has shown up on speculative lists of Trump’s possible choices for running mate, has little patience for party members who haven't warmed up to the idea that the billionaire New Yorker could win the White House.

“People don’t have to endorse all of his rhetoric, but he’s correct on the issues, substantively, and he’s where the American people want to be, and we as a party should celebrate this and join this movement,” Sessions said in a Thursday interview in his Senate office.

Sessions is fast becoming Trump's point person on Capitol Hill for mending fences and trying to unify the party before the November elections.

But three full days after Trump won the Indiana primary -- prompting Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich to drop their bids -- there were signs Sessions faces an uphill climb. House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin said he's still not ready to back Trump, and Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina became at least the fourth Republican senator to say he won't vote for Trump.

“I do not believe (Trump) is a reliable Republican conservative, nor has he displayed the judgment and temperament to serve as commander in chief,” Graham said.

Sessions takes the opposite view. He says the GOP has lost its way on conservative principles and Trump – by opposing free trade and by calling for a U.S.-Mexico border wall and a more cautious approach to military intervention – is righting the ship.

“Those are three big issues where Trump has broken with Republican orthodoxy, and I contend he broke conservative on all three,” Sessions said.

He said Trump’s victory over 16 other Republicans in the presidential primary confirms the validity of Trump's positions on those issues -- the same ones Sessions has been advising Trump on for months, well before endorsing him in February.

“Some of our intellectuals who support free trade, open borders and an interventionist foreign policy are trying to make out like this is not conservative,” Sessions said. “I was reading William F. Buckley in Wilcox County before they were born, and I don’t need a lecture from them about what is conservative.”

But what's true in Sessions’ home state of Alabama may not be true in other states with a stronger mix of Democrats and independents. Some Republicans have urged GOP House and Senate candidates to distance themselves from Trump, based on the assumption that will help them win.

Sessions also said Trump has not approached him about the possibility of a Trump-Sessions ticket, and the Alabama senator all but ruled himself out of contention.

“He needs to get the best person who can run this country if something happens to him, and he needs to consider the political strength of a candidate to help him win," Sessions said. "I’m sure there are a lot of people far superior to I that meet those qualifications."

Asked how he reconciles his family values record with Trump’s crude language and multiple marriages, Sessions said, “You choose your leader, and nobody’s perfect.”

Trump’s demeanor and personal life are less important than his positions on trade and immigration, Sessions said.

“If you’re a football coach and you’ve got an all-American middle linebacker, I’m not sure they’re going to replace him with someone who has better moral standards, I’m just saying,” Sessions said.

Contact Mary Troyan at mtroyan@usatoday.com

Huge Republican turnout pushed Trump to victory

Sen. Jeff Sessions endorses Donald Trump for president

Donald Trump delegates win key GOP convention slots