Fox News host Tucker Carlson implored President Donald Trump on Thursday to stop attacking his own attorney general after an interview with the New York Times quoted the president absolutely berating Jeff Sessions for recusing himself.
"Well, it's been overshadowed by news of war heroes and retired tailbacks, but the president has been in the news today too, as he often is," Carlson began his show.
"Last night, he went after his own attorney general, Jeff Sessions, saying he was angry that Sessions had recused himself from the Russia investigation," he said. "If he had to do it over again, the president said he would have hired somebody else to be the AG.
"Stinging words, but this morning, Sessions seemed to brush them off," Carlson explained, and played clips of Sessions batting away the criticism from the president.
"We love this job, we love this department," Sessions said, "and I plan to continue to do so, as long as that is appropriate.
"I'm totally confident that we can continue to run this office in an effective way," Sessions told the media.
"Now take a step back and you can kinda see how this all happened," Carlson said. "The president is a 71-year-old political novice, and all of a sudden he's the subject of a vague, open-ended investigation, whose goal may be to imprison him or his family.
"Ask anyone who's had an independent counsel on his case, and there are a lot of them here in Washington, what that's like — it's terrifying," he added. "The pressure is soul-distorting. You can wind up lashing out at the people around you, even maybe especially, the ones trying to help you the most.
"So that's probably what's going on," he explained. "And yet attacking Jeff Sessions was still a useless, self-destructive act.
"The first rule in politics, as in war, as in life, don't shoot the friendlies," he said. "Sessions is the closest ally Trump has in this administration. One of the very few who even understands why the president won in the first place."
.@TuckerCarlson: "The first rule in politics - as in war, as in life - don't shoot the friendlies. Sessions is the closest ally Trump has." pic.twitter.com/ONM8ooKsgr
— Fox News (@FoxNews) July 21, 2017
"Unlike most political appointees," Carlson continued, "Sessions made big sacrifices to work in this administration. A year ago, he was one of the most popular people in the state of Alabama."
"Many on his staff didn't want him to endorse Donald Trump, but he did anyway," Carlson said, "purely because he felt it was important. Sessions was worried about an unsecured border and what mass immigration would do to America, even though the biggest effects from those wouldn't be seen until decades after he was long gone from this Earth."
"He's likely the most effective member of the Trump cabinet," Carlson continued. "In return, the president attacked him in the failing New York Times.
"That's not just criticism, it's an insult," he said. "It's also a worrisome sign that the president may be forgetting who is on his side. Goldman Sachs did not elect Donald Trump — America's middle class did."
"For God's sakes, lay off Jeff Sessions," he implored of Trump, "he is your friend, one of the very few you have in Washington."
Trump criticized Sessions while speaking to the New York Times for recusing himself in the Russian investigations into collusion and meddling in the U.S. election. The president seemed to think that it was the recusal that lead to the naming of special counsel Robert Mueller.
