AP

As tensions between the president and Attorney General Jeff Sessions appeared to be coming to a head on Monday, Trump’s alt-right base sent the White House a stern warning: Leave Jeff alone and get back to your racist agenda!




The message came in the form of an article published on Breitbart.com, the ultra-nationalist, race-bating clearinghouse formerly run by senior White House aide Steve Bannon. There, in an uncharacteristically blunt swipe at the president, the site mused that:

President Trump’s decision Tuesday to attack Attorney General Jeff Sessions over Sessions’ “position” on Hillary Clinton’s various scandals only serves to highlight Trump’s own hypocrisy on the issue — and is likely to fuel concerns from his base who see Sessions at the best hope to fulfill Trump’s immigration policies.


Ignoring the fact that the Breitbart—Breitbart!—is openly calling out Trump on his “hypocrisy,” the article’s point is clear:

Sessions represents one of the vital pillars of Trump’s immigration agenda. Sessions has fought in the trenches for a tough line on immigration for years, back when Trump was pouring money into the campaign coffers of Democrats who wanted to open up America’s borders.

Yes, if people truly want to cement the president’s constitutionally murky, religiously motivated, strong-arm tactics on immigration, it’s Sessions—not Trump–whose teamwork makes the bigoted dream work.

Of course, the charge that Trump is merely a bloviating vessel for other, more coherent (and hardline) policies is nothing new. Still, the acrimonious, and very public spat between the White House and Sessions has laid bare the lengths to which the ultra-nationalist right will go to keep its agenda afloat.


Meanwhile, the White House says it will make a decision about Session’s future in the administration “soon.”