Brow Beat

Jeff Sessions Speaks Out Against Trump in a Fiery Late Show Interview

After weeks of increasing public humiliation at the tiny hands of President Trump, Attorney General Jeff Sessions paid a visit to The Late Show With Stephen Colbert on Tuesday night to defend himself. In a ferocious interview, Sessions directly attacked the president, telling him, “If you are going to disparage my good reputation, at least have the courtesy to do so in my face, at my enchanted tree!” It was a rare public appearance for the embattled AG, and it’s a tribute to the Late Show’s producers that they managed to book not just one A-list guest but two, surprising Sessions with a visit from rival courtier Rudy Guliani.

It’s always a pleasure to see things are going badly in Trumpworld, but it has to be said: There’s something undignified about a sitting attorney general having to go on late-night talk shows to get the attention of the president. There were warning signs, of course—go back and watch Sessions cagily deny his ties to the world’s richest man during his confirmation hearings for a big red flag—but even in a Trump administration, we should demand more respect for the norms of government than this kind of disgraceful TV appearance. There’s got to be some Magic middleground between treating the government like a private Club Cracker and smearing E.L. Fudge all over the dignity of the office like this, because when the Chips Deluxe are down and Vienna Fingers of blame are pointing everywhere, the American people deserve an attorney general with enough crème Filling to keep a Gripz on his dignity, not some Hollow Tree of a man who’ll crumble like a Zesta Originalf Saltine and go running to Colbert. Uncommonly bad, Mr. Sessions—uncommonly bad.