Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III is a United States senator because he was too racist to be confirmed as a federal judge in 1986. And boy, is his history of racism impressive. But Donald Trump’s reported pick for attorney general isn’t just racist and he didn’t stop being awful in 1986 after he didn’t become a judge, or in 1996 or 2006. It’s 2016, and Sessions' recent history hasn’t improved:
Sessions has been normalized by his two decades of service in the Senate (such an outsider!), but his views are more than a little bit outside the mainstream. Just in the last several years, he opposed the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, efforts to remove the Confederate battle flag from display on state property, and the repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law. On the latter, he said gay servicemembers would have a “corrosive” effect on morale.
He has repeatedly voted against defense authorization bills — the legislation setting policy for the U.S. armed services — because he has disagreed with policies like the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal and a hate-crimes rider.
And this man could be in charge of civil rights enforcement for the entire country. Even more recently, Sessions defended Trump on his “grab them by the pussy” comments in a way that speaks directly to his qualifications as attorney general:
“I don’t characterize that as sexual assault,” Sessions told The Weekly Standard in the spin room after Sunday night’s presidential debate. “I think that’s a stretch. I don’t know what he meant.”
Trump said he likes to make unwanted sexual contact with women, which is the actual definition of sexual assault, and Sessions said, “I don’t characterize that as sexual assault.” Sounds like we can look forward to a Department of Justice that’s only interested in prosecuting “legitimate rape,” to hell with the legal definition.
Don’t let Sessions’ two decades in the Senate fool you: this is an extremist pick for attorney general, and he’s not fit for the office.
