‘Lock her up’ is a big joke to Sessions

Jeff Sessions loves a good chant.

The U.S. attorney general was tickled Tuesday when a crowd of conservative teens began chanting “lock her up” at a leadership conference for high schoolers in Washington.

Sessions was in the midst of slamming colleges for “coddling” students in the wake of the the 2016 election when the crowd took it upon themselves to bring back one of President Trump's favorite refrains from his campaign rallies.

“I heard that a long time over the last campaign,” Sessions said after repeating the phrase with a smile.

Trump supporters often repeated the “lock her up” refrain whenever Trump mentioned his 2016 Democratic presidential opponent, Hillary Clinton, and her use of a private email server while secretary of state under President Barack Obama.

The President has attacked Sessions for recusing himself from the federal Russia investigation and for not using his position to further probe Clinton's deleted emails. Trump has publicly shamed Sessions for being “very weak.”

The Justice Department head declined to appoint a special counsel to look into alleged FBI political bias and Clinton earlier this year, instead naming John Huber, the U.S. attorney for Utah, to spearhead a probe into the matter.

Sessions criticized colleges and universities Tuesday for “coddling our young people” and “actively preventing them from scrutinizing the validity of their beliefs.”

“After the 2016 election, for example, they held a ‘cry-in' at Cornell. I hope they had plenty of tissues for 'em to cry on," he told the crowd of teens at the Turning Point USA's High School Leadership Summit at George Washington University. "They had therapy dogs at the University of Kansas. Play-Doh and coloring books at the University of Michigan for heaven's sake. You know, give me a break.”

“I like this bunch,” Sessions added. “I can tell you're not going to be backing down.”