Dear Commons Community,
I watched the ABC News/George Stephanopoulos’ interview last night with James Comey, the former F.B.I. director fired by Donald Trump last May. The interview covered a number of topics including Trump’s treatment of women, Russian government blackmail, likening The Donald to a Mafia boss, and the President’s chronic lying. Perhaps the most provocative statement from Comey was that “Donald Trump was morally unfit to be president.” I found Comey a bit sanctimonious and wobbly with some of his explanations especially with regard to Hillary Clinton. Here is a recap provided by the New York Times:
“If there was any chance that President Trump and James B. Comey could have avoided all-out war, it ended Sunday night.
That was when ABC News aired an interview with Mr. Comey, the president’s fired F.B.I. director, as he uses a publicity blitz for his searing tell-all memoir, “A Higher Loyalty,” to raise the alarm about the dangers he says Mr. Trump poses to the country.
While ABC aired one hour of its conversation with Mr. Comey, it had conducted a five-hour interview with him, a transcript of which was obtained by The New York Times. In it, Mr. Comey called Mr. Trump a serial liar who treated women like “meat,” and described him as a “stain” on everyone who worked for him.
He said a salacious allegation that Mr. Trump had cavorted with prostitutes in Moscow had left him vulnerable to blackmail by the Russian government. And he asserted that the president was incinerating the country’s crucial norms and traditions like a wildfire. He compared the president to a mafia boss.
“Our president must embody respect and adhere to the values that are at the core of this country,” Mr. Comey told ABC’s chief anchor, George Stephanopoulos, on the program “20/20.” “The most important being truth. This president is not able to do that. He is morally unfit to be president.”
I think James Comey’s new book, A Higher Loyalty, is going to be a best-seller.
Tony