Attorney General Jeff Sessions admitted Thursday that President Trump’s repeated criticism hurts.
“[I]t’s kind of hurtful,” Sessions said in an interview with Fox News that’s set to air Thursday night.
Sessions’ comments came amid a two-day trip to El Salvador he’s using to push forward with Justice Department’s fight against transnational gang activity and illegal immigration.
Last week, Trump said he was disappointed in Sessions’ decision to recuse himself from the Justice Department’s Russia investigation, and said he would not have appointed him to be attorney general had he known he would recuse.
Since then, Trump has criticized Sessions on Twitter calling him “beleaguered” and “weak,” as well as saying he is disappointed in him in various interviews and news conferences.
Sessions told Carlson that Trump is a “strong leader” and is working to move it “in the direction that he believes it needs to go to make it great again.”
“He has had a lot of criticism and he’s steadfast and determined to get his job done, and he wants us to do our job and that’s what I intend to do,” Sessions added.
The Associated Press published a short interview with Sessions in El Salvador in which he said he plans to remain attorney general as long as Trump wants him to.
“I serve at the pleasure of the president. I’ve understood that from the day I took the job,” he said, adding that he knows it hasn’t been the “best week” in terms of his relationship with the president, but believes the two have the same goals and beliefs.
