Sessions railed against college campus culture, characterizing it as a sort of "snowflake" factory, a pejorative for entitled, college-educated liberals that comes from the 1999 film "Fight Club." He was speaking to high school students at a High School Leadership Summit at George Washington University in Washington, DC, an event sponsored by the conservative student group Turning Point USA (TPUSA).
"There was a ‘cry-in' at Cornell after the 2016 election, therapy dogs at the University of Kansas…. I hope they had plenty of tissues," the AG quipped.
But as he decried liberal college culture, students started chanting "lock her up!" Sessions repeated the phrase, laughing, and said that he had heard it many times during the campaign.
"Rather than molding a generation of mature, well-informed adults, some schools are doing everything they can to create a generation of sanctimonious, sensitive, supercilious snowflakes," he continued.
Sessions' explosive remarks to the TPUSA summit followed calls for restraint made to the same group the day prior by US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley.
"Raise your hand if you've ever posted anything online to quote-unquote ‘own the libs [liberals],'" Haley asked. "I know that it's fun and that it can feel good, but step back and think about what you're accomplishing when you do this — are you persuading anyone?"
"This kind of speech isn't leadership — it's the exact opposite," she said.
TPUSA, whose members are primarily high school and college students, was accused in a memo leaked from the conservative Young America's Foundation (YAF) in May of "boosting numbers with racists & Nazi sympathizers." TPUSA, which frequently denounces the alleged spread of Marxism and so-called ‘cultural Marxism,' responded to the claim by saying YAF broke the "Reagan Rule," i.e., that Republicans shouldn't say bad things about other Republicans.
The group also works to combat Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) activity on campus, seeking to stifle those who call for peaceful protest against Israel, despite its claim to be a free speech advocacy organization.
The group's former national field director, Crystal Clanton, was exposed in leaked text message to another member saying, "I hate black people. Like f**k them all… I hate blacks. End of story." She was fired after the message emerged.
TPUSA founder and president Charlie Kirk had previously described Clanton in a book he wrote as "the best hire we ever could have made." She was "integral to the success of Turning Point while effectively serving as its chief operating office," Kirk said.