Jeff Sessions responded to President Trump blasting his former attorney general for recusing himself from the special counsel’s Russia investigation and endorsing his rival in the Senate race in Alabama.

“You and I fight for the same agenda. @TTuberville is so weak he won’t debate me & too weak for Alabama. AL will vote for you this fall, but Alabama will not take orders from Washington on who to send to the Senate. @realDonaldTrump,” Sessions posted on Twitter late Saturday, referring to his challenger Tommy Tuberville, the former Auburn University football coach.

Sessions, who stepped away from his Alabama senate seat to become Trump’s first attorney general in 2017, recused himself from Robert Mueller’s Russia probe because he had come in contact with a Russian ambassador during the 2016 campaign.

In a series of tweets on Saturday, the president said Sessions, the first sitting senator to endorse Trump, “blew it.”

“Jeff, you had your chance & you blew it,” Trump tweeted. “Recused yourself ON DAY ONE (you never told me of a problem), and ran for the hills.”

“You had no courage, & ruined many lives. The dirty cops, & others, got caught by better & stronger people than you. Hopefully this slime will pay a big . . . price. You should drop out of the race & pray that super liberal [Democratic candidate] @DougJones . . . gets beaten badly.”Sessions, in a tweet on Friday, explained why he had to recuse himself.

“@realdonaldtrump Look, I know your anger, but recusal was required by law. I did my duty & you’re damn fortunate I did. It protected the rule of law & resulted in your exoneration. Your personal feelings don’t dictate who Alabama picks as their senator, the people of Alabama do,” said Sessions, who was fired by Trump in November 2018.

Sessions and Tuberville are running against each other in the Republican primary race.

The winner will face off against Sen. Doug Jones, a Democrat who won the seat in December 2017.