Jeff Sessions
Jeff SessionsReuters

Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions officially announced a bid for his old Alabama Senate seat on Thursday.

“Our freedoms have never been under attack like they are today," he wrote in the announcement on his campaign website, according to The Hill.

"We have major party candidates for President campaigning on socialism, confiscating firearms, and closing down churches they disagree with. I’ve battled these forces my entire life, and I’m not about to surrender now. Let’s go!” added Sessions.

Speculation over whether Sessions would enter the race swirled around Washington in recent weeks. On Wednesday, two Republicans with direct knowledge of his plans confirmed that Sessions would make his move official on Thursday.

Sessions resigned from his post as Attorney General a year ago at the request of President Donald Trump, after their relationship soured over his recusal from federal investigations into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.

Sessions recused himself from the probe after it was revealed he had contacts with the Russian ambassador to the US, Sergey Kislyak.

Trump repeatedly criticized Sessions over the recusal and said he would never have chosen Sessions for the post if he had known he would recuse himself.

The Republican represented Alabama in the upper chamber for two decades before being tapped by Trump to serve as attorney general.

Trump remains widely popular in Alabama and his endorsement has previously helped GOP candidates in contested primaries.

Despite enduring repeated public mocking, Sessions has remained a Trump loyalist who continues to back the president’s policies.