Interim DNC head: Sessions ‘too extreme’ for AG

Interim Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Donna Brazile says Sen. Jeff Sessions’s (R-Ala.) background is exactly the opposite of the one needed for his potential role as President-elect Donald Trump’s attorney general.

Brazile’s remarks come as Sessions heads for what could be one of the most contentious confirmation hearings. Democrats and outside pressure groups have criticized Sessions over allegations of racism, including purported remarks that sunk a 1986 nomination for a federal judgeship

“As our nation’s top law enforcement official, the U.S. attorney general bears a sacred responsibility to fight injustice and defend the defenseless,” she said in a statement. “Senator Sessions’ extreme views are directly at odds with the mission of the office he seeks.”

“Sessions is worse than unqualified for the job—he stands for everything our attorney general should be fighting,” said Brazile.

{mosads}“If they confirm him now, Republicans will be turning back the clock on all the progress we’ve made as a nation. Donald Trump could not have nominated a worse candidate.”

Brazile said Sessions’s past treatment of minorities is disqualifying for the nation’s top law enforcement officer.

“[Sessions] has fought against women’s rights and women’s equality, voted against paycheck fairness, the Violence Against Women Act, voted to defund Planned Parenthood, and questioned the constitutional legitimacy of Roe V. Wade,” she said.

“He has fought against LGBT rights [and] voted against the Employment Non-Discrimination Act to allow workplace discrimination on sexual orientation. He even likened his effort to ban same-sex marriage to the movement to abolish slavery.”

Critics have challenged Session’s commitment to civil rights and resurfaced accusations of racism against the Alabama lawmaker.

Supporters have countered that Sessions, who served as his state’s attorney general, has a robust record defending minorities and boasts the experience for his possible role.

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), meanwhile, announced on Monday he will testify against Sessions during the latter’s confirmation hearing Wednesday.

Booker, who is black, is the first sitting senator to testify against a colleague during a confirmation hearing.