Mainstream media reporters circulated the news Tuesday that Attorney General Jeff Sessions had “joined” a chant of “lock her up” by conservative high school students attending the Turning Point USA summit in Washington, D.C.

Some left-wing pundits even claimed that Sessions had “led” the chant. Politico, in the same vein, reported — as news — that the incident was “the latest example of President Donald Trump and his aides making aggressive gestures toward their political rivals” and that it “follows other moves by Trump and his aides that have alarmed not only Trump critics but other fellow Republicans.”

In fact, all Sessions did was laugh — once he recognized the chant — and comment that it had been heard on the campaign trail. As Breitbart News reported, and as video confirms: “Sessions laughed as the chants grew louder and replied, “‘Lock her up,’ I heard that a long time over the last campaign.”

That did not stop the media from pretending that Sessions’s response was somehow significant — and marked a further sign of descent into authoritarian rule:

JUST IN: Attorney General Jeff Sessions laughs and repeats “Lock her up” as audience at a high school leadership summit here in DC begins chanting those words. — Peter Alexander (@PeterAlexander) July 24, 2018

The attorney general of the united states just joined a chant of “lock her up” at an event in DC. — Dafna Linzer (@DafnaLinzer) July 24, 2018

Jeff Sessions just led a chant of “lock her up” at a high school leadership summit. The Attorney General. In front of high schoolers. This is absolutely unreal and terrifying. What a coward. pic.twitter.com/6MyiVvfD8E — Scott Dworkin (@funder) July 24, 2018

Here’s the video. Jeff Sessions—the nation’s top law enforcement officer—laughs and says “lock her up” at a high school leadership summit in Washington D.C. (via ABC) pic.twitter.com/XnACf9F3o0 — Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) July 24, 2018

Beyond the top law enforcement officer of US chanting to lock up a (never charged) political rival of the President, why now?

He had ample opportunity on the 2016 trail. https://t.co/lHwZKokc8k — Katy Tur (@KatyTurNBC) July 24, 2018

At least one journalist, Julie Hirschfeld Davis of the New York Times, observed that all Sessions had done was try to “laugh it off.”

Sessions had testified during his confirmation hearings last year that he never joined the “lock her up” chants during the campaign.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. He is also the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, which is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.

Photo: file