WASHINGTON — The first hearing for a Trump administration Cabinet selection got off to a raucous start Tuesday when two men in white sheets and KKK pointed caps were ejected before Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), who has been selected to become attorney general, was even sworn in to testify
The men wearing KKK caps, standing on chairs in the Senate hearing room, claimed they were Sessions’ #1 fans.
“Jefferson Beauregard, you speak for the people!” said one of them, calling the nominee by his first and middle name.
As police escorted the two men out, one yelled, “You can’t arrest me, we’re white. White people don’t get arrested. I’m a white man!”
Code Pink founder Medea Benjamin claimed credit for the KKK-themed protesters — claiming the ejected men were part of her group.
Pot activists also were also on hand, having arrived at the committee room fittingly at 4:20 am — to get a good seat — wearing red shirts reading, “Great Americans Smoke Sessions.”
The senator, a staunch immigration hawk, was also met by protesters waving signs that read “Stand Against Xenophobia.”
Midway through opening statements, Rev. Al Sharpton walked in to the hearing room as well.
Senate Democrats, many of whom have served with the Alabama senator for years, have promised a tough confirmation battle.
In an unprecedented move, a sitting US senator, Cory Booker (D-NJ) is scheduled to testify against Sessions.
Sessions was first was sworn in to the Senate in 1997.
In 1986, Sessions was nominated by Ronald Reagan to be a a judge, serving the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama. But his nomination was withdrawn later that year amid charges of racism.