Ex-AG Gonzales: Trump's Slam on Sessions Damages Himself

President Donald Trump publicly musing that he wishes he had picked someone other than Jeff Sessions to serve as his attorney general damages his own image, former attorney general Alberto Gonzales said Thursday.

"This hurts the image of Donald Trump," Gonzales, who served under President George W. Bush before resigning in 2007, told CNN's "New Day."

"It makes him, I think, appear weak and indecisive to be so critical of a cabinet secretary," Gonzales said. "He is their boss. If he is not happy and is not taking action, he has to make sure the people serving in the cabinet are the best people possible."

Gonzales said he is also concerned about how Trump's comments affect the morale of the career individual at the Department of Justice, as it "weakens the attorney general to carry out the work of the American people day in and day out."

On Wednesday, the president tweet-quoted an interview Rep. Trey Gowdy gave about Sessions' decision to recuse himself, adding "I wish I had" regarding Gowdy's comments that "there are lots of good lawyers in the country. He could have picked someone" other than Sessions.

It wasn't the first time Trump has publicly criticized Sessions, dating back to last year, when the former Alabama senator recused himself from the investigation into Russian activities during the 2016 presidential race.

Gonzales said if Bush had said something similar publicly while he was serving as attorney general, he would have asked to speak with the then-president privately about whether he wanted him to continue leading the Department of Justice.

"It is hard to imagine it did not occur here," said Gonzales of Sessions and Trump.

Sessions has a long history of service to the American people, said Gonzales, and he does not believe he wants to leave his "dream job" position.

"I think that Jeff Sessions believes he's done the right thing, and continues to do the right thing by all accounts," said Gonzales. "He really has been a great soldier in terms of promoting the president's law enforcement policies and objectives.

"So I think he's going to continue to stay there. And I think he will continue to take this until the president actually fires him. I would be surprised if he resigns, quite frankly."

Instead, Trump will need to decide if he is unhappy enough with Sessions to fire him, said Gonzales, adding he does not think a change is warranted.

"I think he did the absolute right thing in recusing himself, and I think based on all appearances he is carrying out the president's objectives in the law enforcement arena," said Gonzales. "But at the end of the day, the president can remove the attorney general or any cabinet official for any reason or no reason."

Gonzales added that he would have recused himself as well.

"Jeff Sessions comes in the department with somewhat of a reputation as being somewhat political and tied to the White House, and then to initially ignore the advice of ethics officials, I think it would have cost some credibility in the building and would have made it much more difficult for him to serve as attorney general of the United States," said Gonzales.

Gonzales on Thursday also said he finds the language used by Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani in referring to special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation as a "lynching mob" is "disappointing."

"Given his history at the Department of Justice and just given the wonderful service he's given to the people of New York, I'm surprised," he said.

"Certainly at the leadership level there have been mistakes made at the Department of Justice with respect to the [Hillary] Clinton investigation and in some ways in connection with this investigation, the Russia investigation. But they worked very hard to get it right. I'm troubled and disappointed at some of the language used by Mayor Rudy Giuliani," Gonzales said.