Rumors have been circulating that former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who resigned his U.S. Senate seat to serve in the Trump administration, may try to win back that seat in the upcoming 2020 elections.
When Sessions resigned from the Senate, a special election was held for his old seat, which many expected would stay in GOP control. However, due to several allegations of sexual misconduct against Republican candidate Roy Moore — including charges that he courted and had sexual contact with underage girls when he was in his 30s — the Democrat Doug Jones ended up winning the election instead.
Jones is considered vulnerable in his re-election chances, considering that Alabama is a state that has some of the highest approval ratings in the nation for President Donald Trump. Several Republicans have already thrown their hat into the ring to challenge Jones, including former Auburn University football coach Tommy Tuberville, Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill, and even Moore has said he’s going to try to run again, NPR reported.
Sessions’s rumored entrance would complicate the GOP primary process, as he’d likely be the frontrunner for his old seat. However, it’s possible that he might lose as well, given the unceremonious manner in which he left the Trump administration, with the president often voicing disdain for his former attorney general on social media.
However, some on social media have suggested other reasons why Sessions shouldn’t be sent back to his old post. Katrina Mulligan, the managing director for National Security and International Policy with the Center for American Progress, said she dealt with Sessions directly while she worked at the Department of Justice.
According to Mulligan’s CPAC bio, she “served as an attorney adviser and director for preparedness and response in the National Security Division at the U.S. Department of Justice, where she represented the department on a wide range of National Security Council (NSC) policy committees.” She interacted with Sessions frequently in her role.
I have personally briefed Jeff Sessions (when he was AG) and found him to be cognitively unable to understand the words coming out of my mouth. Repeatedly. Alabama should pass. https://t.co/lMd5f6fC80
— katrina mulligan (@NatSecMulligan) November 6, 2019
In a tweet she penned on Wednesday, Mulligan suggested that Sessions wasn’t competent enough to be a Senator again.
“I have personally briefed Jeff Sessions (when he was AG) and found him to be cognitively unable to understand the words coming out of my mouth,” Mulligan wrote. It was a problem that happend “repeatedly,” she added.
“Alabama should pass,” Mulligan concluded.
It’s unlikely that Mulligan’s words will do much to sway voters in the state — as part of CPAC, a decidedly liberal organization, her opinions will scarcely be heeded in the deeply “red” state of Alabama.
However, it’s possible that other GOP candidates vying for the party’s nomination could seize upon her words, and use them against Sessions, in addition to pointing out Trump’s vitriolic feelings toward the former lawmaker, in order to curry favor with the electorate.