Trump's sit-down interview with Jeanine Pirro aired tonight on her Fox News show "Justice with Judge Jeanine" and, unsurprisingly, James Comey was still a hot topic of discussion. They talked about Trump's presidency and a bit about his policies, but Pirro went for the Comey questions right at the start — and Trump revealed two somewhat surprising things:
- He thought the Democrats would be happy about firing Comey, which suggests he was motivated by that presumed bipartisan support.
- He said he was considered firing Comey on Jan. 20, but admitted he didn't want that news to overshadow the inauguration. "Let's say I did it on January 20, the opening, right, and that would have been the big story as opposed to the inauguration. I was thinking about it then. I was thinking about it during this period of time."
Why it matters: As Trump told Pirro, "Look, it's all politics." His responses about Comey suggest he was the one who was showboating — he told Lester Holt that Comey was a "showboat" and a "grandstander") — whether keeping the focus on his inauguration or trying to make what he anticipated would be a strategic move with Democrats.Other highlights from the interview:"I guess I was a little bit surprised, because all of the Democrats, I mean they hated Jim Comey. They didn't like him. They wanted him fired or whatever. And then all of a sudden, they come out with these glowing reports."Comey 3.0: " I mean, he gave her a free pass like nobody's ever, ever gotten a free pass. ...Then he came out with Comey two, and then he came out with Comey three, and the ultimate thing is, he gave her a free pass."AHCA wasn't a failure: "And we're doing very well with healthcare. By the way — well, it wasn't really an initial failure. It was just a continuation of a negotiation."Health care predictions: "And I think the Senate is going to come up with some really, really great additions and changes, and we're going to have a plan that's going to be really great."He says he made friends while trying to pass AHCA: " made so many friends. I was in business, and I didn't know a lot of these Congressmen and Congresswomen. They're great people. I met so many people that I really like." He also said he was speaking to "30, 40, 50" people — members of the Freedom Caucus, the Tuesday Group, and House Republican — each day trying to pass AHCA.