You know who‘s not crazy about seeing a conservative, Southern former senator subjected to disrespectful treatment on the public stage? A conservative, Southern current senator, for one.

Here’s Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, coming to the defense of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who represented Alabama in the chamber for two decades and has been under fire from President Donald Trump in recent days for, in Trump’s stated (and tweeted) view, recusing himself from the investigation into Russia’s role in the presidential election, failing to anticipate he’d need to recuse himself from that probe while being considered to lead the Justice Department, being “weak” on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and intra-administration leaks, and other perceived sins:

“ ‘The weakness is the president is trying to not use his power. He’s trying to get Sessions to quit, and I hope Sessions doesn’t quit. If the president wants to fire him, fire him.’ ” — Sen. Lindsey Graham

Graham was speaking with Manu Raju of CNN, who sought clarity on whether Graham intended to use a term — weakness — virtually certain to get under the president’s skin. Said Graham: “Absolutely.”

“Anybody who’s strong would use the power they have and be confident in their decision,” Graham continued, acting “accordingly” and displaying willingness to ”take the consequences.”

Don’t miss:What Donald Trump’s battle of wills with Jeff Sessions teaches you about a difficult boss

Also see:Trump asks on Twitter why the ‘beleaguered’ Sessions