David Axelrod actually said...

"The president wants a pugnacious person out there, who's slugging away for him."

"It is hard to speak for this President because you make representations presumably with his approval and then he will take it in a completely different direction, often cutting you off at the knees, c..."

"Well, it's obviously big for Jeff Sessions. It impugns him in a way at a time, as you point out, that is very, very inconvenient because he seems to be on the rocks as it is."

"He surely does. You know, I spent an hour with him, the initial 'Axe Files' on CNN with John McCain."