President Trump said that if he had known Jeff Sessions would recuse himself from the Russia investigation, he would have hired someone else to serve as Attorney General, per his NYT interview. The comment did not go unnoticed by one of Trump's usual supporters, Fox News' Tucker Carlson — but instead of defending the president, Carlson criticized Trump ("a 71-year-old political novice") for turning against whom he believes is the one loyal member of his cabinet.

"Attacking Jeff Sessions was still a useless, self-destructive act," Carlson said. "Sessions is the closest ally Trump has in this administration. ... [he's] the rare person in the entire executive branch making actual progress implementing the agenda his boss ran on."

"And in an administration brimming with opportunists and ideological saboteurs ... Sessions is likely the most effective member of the cabinet," Carlson said. "And in return, the president attacked him in the failing New York Times."