Sen. Jeff Sessions addressed accusations of racism Tuesday during his Senate confirmation hearing for U.S. Attorney General — explaining he was first unfairly caricatured as racist during his 1986 confirmation hearing to be President Ronald Reagan’s nominee for U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Alabama.
“When I came up as a United States Attorney, I had no real support group, I didn’t prepare myself well in 1986, and there was an organized effort to caricature me as something that wasn’t true,” Sessions said before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“I hope my tenure in this body has shown you that the caricature that was created of me was not accurate. It wasn’t accurate then, and it’s not accurate now,” he continued.
Fellow Southern, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham asked Sessions, “I am from South Carolina so I know what it means to be accused of being a conservative from the South — meaning a racist or a bigot. How does that make you feel?”
“It was very painful, I didn’t know how to respond, and didn’t respond very well. I hope my tenure in this body has shown you that the caricature that was created of me wasn’t accurate, it wasn’t accurate then and it’s not accurate now,” the junior senator from Alabama added.
Sessions was denied the federal judgeship in 1986 after issues were raised about comments he had made regarding the Klu Klux Klan. Tuesday’s hearing is the first of two days of hearings scheduled for Sessions’ confirmation as attorney general under President-elect Donald Trump.
