Trump then pointed a few places down the cabaret line and started gushing over Sessions, the first senator to endorse him during the primary season. Trump hailed Sessions as being “highly respected in Washington” and “as smart as it gets.” Neither was sincere or true. Sessions was in fact a not terribly well-respected backbencher in the Senate, and his endorsement would not be coveted by anyone outside Alabama. Nor did Trump think Sessions was “as smart as it gets.” (He would refer to him later as “mentally retarded” and a “dumb Southerner.”)
