Immigration patriot Jeff Sessions is set for a runoff in Alabama’s Republican Senate primary. The former senator and attorney general finished in a disappointing second in the race last night, following close behind former college football coach Tommy Tuberville. With 97% of the vote in, Tuberville leads 32.2 percent to Sessions’s 31.1 percent. U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne finished at third with just under 27 percent. Former GOP senate nominee Roy Moore didn’t even crack 10 percent.

The results are alarming. The first polls in the race showed Sessions with a commanding lead in the race and was within striking distance of the 50 percent threshold needed to win outright. On primary day, that lead slipped to second place.

But the worst news is that President Trump looks ready to endorse Tuberville. Trump reiterated his contempt for Sessions in a Wednesday morning tweet:

This is what happens to someone who loyally gets appointed Attorney General of the United States & then doesn’t have the wisdom or courage to stare down & end the phony Russia Witch Hunt. Recuses himself on FIRST DAY in office, and the Mueller Scam begins! https://t.co/2jGnRgOS6h

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 4, 2020

Trump has not forgotten Sessions’s recusal from the Russia investigation. Even though the former senator was one of the first lawmakers to endorse Trump in 2016, nothing can make the president forgive this offense. The tweet is the first case of the president attacking Sessions during the Senate primary. This was always the greatest threat to Sessions’s campaign. Trump’s influence over GOP voters is tremendous and his criticism can sink any candidate.

The tweet indicates Trump may endorse Tuberville just to spite Sessions. Tuberville hired immigration boosters to advise his campaign and cannot be trusted on immigration. He led the effort to ban the Confederate flag from the University of Missippi’s football stadium when he coached there. He is no patriot and he does not represent the America First agenda.

Sessions does.

Tuesday’s results prove that Sessions needs Trump to at least stay out of the race, if not an endorsement. Trump’s tweet shows the president has no interest in endorsing his former attorney general. Sessions can still win if Trump doesn’t endorse anyone, but he will surely lose if Tuberville receives the coveted endorsement.