Trump says his ‘life would’ve been a lot easier’ if he picked Barr over Sessions

President Trump said Thursday that his “life would’ve been a lot easier” if he chose William Barr as his attorney general originally, instead of former Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Geraldo Rivera asked Trump on his podcast “Roadkill” what his life would have been like if he chose Barr first. 

“My life would’ve been a lot easier, but I might have been less popular,” Trump told Rivera.

“Because they say they like that that I fought it,” he added, referencing his supporters. “They like that I won. They like that my base is much more energized.”

On this week’s Roadkill Podcast- Geraldo talks to the 45th President of the United States @realDonaldTrump. Listen here! https://t.co/gZuJm7Ae8q

— Newsradio WTAM 1100 (@wtam1100) February 13, 2020

Sessions, the former senator from Alabama, had been the first member of Congress at the time to support the president in the 2016 race. Following Trump’s victory in the general election, he appointed Sessions as attorney general. 

However, Trump and Sessions’s relationship eventually soured after the former attorney general decided to recuse himself from the Justice Department’s investigation into whether Russia interfered in the 2016 election. 

After that, Trump openly attacked Sessions on Twitter until he was fired a day after the 2018 midterm elections.

The president says these events may have energized his supporters.

“Let’s assume none of this stuff happened, that we had a nice, boring presidency, right?” Trump said. “I don’t think I’d have nearly the energy in the Republican Party that we have right now.”

Trump described Barr as a “very good man doing a very good job” in the podcast.

Trump’s comments on the podcast came before Barr appeared on ABC News on Thursday evening and advised the president to refrain from tweeting about the Justice Department, adding that it makes it “impossible for me to do my job.”

Earlier this week, Trump praised the attorney general for having the Justice Department request a reduced sentence for Roger Stone, after prosecutors recommended a seven-to-nine year sentence for lying to Congress and obstructing the Russian investigation.