News that Donald Trump fired FBI Director James Comey broke as Fox News was showing The Specialists, MSNBC was on Meet the Press Daily, and CNN was doing The Situation Room.
All three of them ground to halts at the news, then picked up speed as correspondents like Jeff Zeleny and Peter Alexander started sharing every piece of information they could get on the fly. Zeleny was straight-up out of breath from running to CNN’s camera setup with Trump’s letter to Comey in hand.
In the studio, NBC News’ Chuck Todd said, “All I can say is wow.”
Watch that above and see more reactions below:
Comey Fired!!! Finally.
— Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) May 9, 2017
Pretty stunning that the deputy atty. general cites Comey’s mishandling of the Hillary emails investigation as the reason for his dismissal.
— Ashley Parker (@AshleyRParker) May 9, 2017
Comey firing recommended by Sessions. I thought he had recused himself from Russia investigation!
— Senator Tim Kaine (@timkaine) May 9, 2017
This is Nixonian. Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein must immediately appoint a special prosecutor to continue the Trump/Russia investigation.
— Senator Bob Casey (@SenBobCasey) May 9, 2017
The Comey Firing is going to be the real test of whether reflexive Republican partisanship has reached the point of no return
— Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) May 9, 2017
Aaaaaaand James Comey is off to his next job! pic.twitter.com/czrQhayxhr
— Al Giordano (@AlGiordano) May 9, 2017
Good riddance, James Comey.
He was a liability and the American People had no trust in him. #TuesdayThoughts
— Scott Presler (@ScottPresler) May 9, 2017
Why fire Comey now? Because what’s coming down the pike in FBI investigation against Trump/allies is worse than PR hit Trump will take now.
— Julián Castro (@JulianCastro) May 9, 2017
Can I just ask the obvious: how is it okay to fire the man leading an investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded w Russia? 1/2
— David Gregory (@davidgregory) May 9, 2017
Twilight zone. I was as disappointed and frustrated as anyone at how the email investigation was handled. But this terrifies me.
— Robby Mook (@RobbyMook) May 9, 2017
Notice anything strange here? Yeah, this is a bipartisan reaction post. Republicans and Democrats are expressing fear about what precedent the president’s firing of the FBI director could set. Similarly, both Republicans and Democrats are celebrating. Comey, after all, is widely believed to be one of the reasons Hillary Clinton lost the presidency. Even she thinks so.
On the other hand, he’s also helming the investigation into Trump’s Russian ties.
What does it all mean?
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