It's been just two days since Donald Trump decided to fire James Comey as director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and he's scrambling to defend himself from critics. After a series of tweets on the matter at hand, the president decided to open up on camera.
Trump on Comey
With just weeks remaining in the 2016 presidential election, FBI Director James Comey changed the direction of the race.
Hillary Clinton was holding a comfortable lead in most polls, and the scandal surrounding her use of a private email server during her time as Secretary of State was in the past. Clinton had been cleared of any wrongdoing by the FBI, as well as several investigations finding no credible evidence of illegal activity. Despite this, Comey brought the issue up once again less than a month before Election Day, and it was all Donald Trump needed to shift the momentum in his favor. While there are many factors for why Trump came out victorious, Democrats and liberal critics point to the Comey decision for when the tide shifted.
However, since his election, Comey has been more of a thorn in the side of Republicans than Democrats, as he's been the person in charge of investigating what role Russia played in the election, and if they were in cahoots with the Trump campaign. As reported by NBC News on May 11, Trump is elaborating further on his view of the situation.
Sitting down for an interview with NBC Nightly News host lester holt on Thursday, Donald Trump didn't hold back his thoughts on James Comey and the controversy surrounding his recent termination. "Look, he’s a grandstander, a showboat,” Trump said in reference to the now former FBI director. "The FBI has been in turmoil. You know that. I know that. Everybody knows that," he continued.
"I was going to fire Comey. My decision," Donald Trump said, before adding, "I was going to fire him regardless." Lester Holt then brought up the letter Trump wrote to James Comey about his firing, specifically the part about the FBI director informing the president that he wasn't under investigation, claiming he was told on three different occasions.
Comey convo
"He told me that. I have heard that from others," Donald Trump said, before claiming he was told by James Comey during a dinner meeting that he wasn't being investigated. In regards to the two other occasions the two spoke, Trump said they both occurred during separate phone calls. Holt pushed back at the former host of "The Apprentice," noting that Comey swore under oath that an investigation was taking place, but Trump simply brushed off the allegations.