Former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions began his speech Tuesday night in Huntsville joking about being fired last year by President Donald Trump.

And Sessions, who served 20 years as a U.S. senator from Alabama, wrapped up his speech professing unyielding support for the man he helped get elected president.

Praising Trump for "relentlessly and actually honoring the promises he made to the American people," Sessions said, "That's why I still do support him."

Sessions – in a rare public speech -- sounded more like the first member of Congress to endorse Trump in the 2016 Republican presidential primary than the eventual attorney general who the president made a practice of belittling on Twitter throughout the nearly two years he led the Justice Department.

Confirmed by the Senate in February 2017 as attorney general, Sessions immediately resigned his seat to become the nation's top law enforcement officer. He encountered Trump's wrath after recusing himself from the investigation into Russia meddling in the presidential election because he served as one of Trump's leading surrogates in the campaign.

Sessions left office in November 2018 – a day after the midterm elections.

Though he spoke Tuesday for 38 minutes at a fundraiser dinner for the Madison County Republican Party attended by about 270 people, Sessions never alluded to the impeachment inquiry against Trump launched by House Democrats. Sessions declined to talk to reporters following his speech.

With no apparent desire to talk about impeachment, Sessions spent much of his address praising Republican office holders across Alabama – his audience included two congressmen and Alabama's lieutenant governor, attorney general and secretary of state -- and blasting Democrats.

"They seek, in my view, secular heaven on earth," Sessions said. "And how do you get it, in their minds? More government. So they have a bigger government. And then when it doesn't work, what do they say? The problem is the government's not big enough. We don't have enough power in Washington to run your lives. Give us more power and we'll make you better.

"This is absolutely contrary to what we as Republicans fought for in this state and this nation. We need to confront it head-on and the president is exactly right. We will not let socialism take over this country."

Saying that leadership "needs to get their back up," Sessions also challenged Republicans to stand firm against Democratic ideals.

"The average voter does not like the Democratic agenda," he said. "But we haven't shown them sufficiently how much we need them and that we can care for them and are willing to listen to them about the things they care about. And special interests don’t get to run this country."

Amid the whipping of praise for the GOP, though, Sessions couldn't resist a chuckle about his removal as attorney general.

"And then be able to have the honor and challenge of serving as your attorney general of the United States of America, it was really a tremendous thing for me," Sessions said. "I am so proud of the work we were able to do in so many different areas.

“But there was one problem as attorney general, that’s for sure as you well know. I like to say a lot of people get fired from their work but mine was a little more public than most. You do the best you can. At least they don’t shoot you when they fire you.”