U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Thursday pushed back against President Trump's remarks to Fox News that he is not in control of the U.S. Justice Department and should have recused from overseeing the special counsel's Russia investigation.

Trump castigated his attorney general—a repeated thing these days—in the Fox interview, saying: “I put in an attorney general who never took control of the Justice Department. Jeff Sessions, never took control of the Justice Department. It's sort of an incredible thing.” He added: “What kind of man is this?”

Sessions has withered criticism over the months. Trump has derided Sessions at times as “weak” and “beleaguered.” The attacks from Trump escalated in recent weeks, when the president called his attorney general “scared stiff” and “missing in action.” Sessions, for his part, has often praised the president in public remarks. The New York Times has reported that Sessions, privately, knows he has allies on Capitol Hill.