Jeff Sessions, the former senator from Alabama whose tumultuous tenure as President Donald Trump’s attorney general lasted less than two years, will enter the race to reclaim his old seat in 2020, a Republican official said Wednesday.
»PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Attorney General Jeff Sessions resigns, Matthew Whitaker named acting attorney general
Sessions has remained largely out of the public eye, and has been effectively exiled from Republican politics, since he was forced out of the Trump administration last November. He had repeatedly clashed with the president over his decision to recuse himself from the Justice Department’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
»FROM 2018: Jeff Sessions asked to resign: Read the letter he submitted to Trump
Trump relentlessly attacked Sessions in public and in private, calling him “scared stiff” and his leadership “a total joke,” among other insults, ultimately forcing him to resign. By choosing to run for office now, Sessions risks reigniting attacks from his former boss, who could undermine his standing among the Republican voters he needs to win next year’s crowded primary election March 3. Trump won the staunchly Republican state in 2016 with 62% of the vote and remains highly popular there.
