KATE BOLDUAN (HOST): One thing I wasn't clear on, though, in your statement, who is at fault for the position, the uncomfortable position that Jeff Sessions is in right now?
REP. DAVID BRAT (R-VA): I tried to spell it out. That's what's hard up here. You put it out and you get two sentences, usually, in a newspaper, or whatever. But it's just the confluence of everything. No one anticipated the 24/7 coverage on the Russia piece. And then Sessions recused himself there, leaving the president with a deputy who called for special counsel kind of hastily. And now the special counsel has some Democrat attorneys that worked for Clinton, et cetera. And so, it's just a whole conglomeration that's happened since then. You can understand why the president is frustrated with that. But, Attorney General Sessions acted in the highest ethical principles. And so, I don't think it's him.
BOLDUAN: So, but is the president at fault for being the one who made the beleaguered Sessions beleaguered?
BRAT: No. I don't think -- the mainstream press has just been relentless, right? I mean, we see the stats come out this week --
BOLDUAN: Wait, wait, wait, wait.
BRAT: Health care gets 5 percent of coverage. The budget gets 2 percent of coverage. And Russia gets 90 percent of coverage.
BOLDUAN: There is no way -- no way is the media, as much as I would love more power, there's no way that the media is powerful enough to force a president to talk to The New York Times and say he regrets putting Jeff Sessions in the post and that Jeff Sessions is weak and -- the media is not forcing the president to tweet his attacks.
BRAT: I think you did. You forced his hand -- if you got 24/7 coverage and he doesn't have an AG in place to cover the most important issue that the media covers with 90 percent of your coverage, the anchors across the mainstream, you guys are good, you're fair to me. I know you're going to wish me happy birthday today. But some of the others, they're just relentless --
BOLDUAN: We'll get to that in a second. No, but wait, wait, wait, wait. Don't try to throw me off with the happy birthday bit. You and I will get to that. Are you kidding me?
BRAT: No.
BOLDUAN: The media did not force the president to attack Jeff Sessions.
BRAT: I'm using force in like a bank shot metaphor.
BOLDUAN: We didn't even bank shot. I can't shoot anything. We didn't bank it. We didn't do a lay-up. We didn't do a half court throw. I mean, we didn't.
