There was a White House reception yesterday to thank law enforcement officers and first responders who worked on Donald Trump’s inauguration, and the new president seemed especially eager to thank one person in particular. The Washington Post reported:
FBI Director James B. Comey, who infuriated Democrats during the campaign drama over Hillary Clinton’s email, got a pat on the back Sunday from President Trump. […]”He’s become more famous than me,” Trump said to those ringing the room as Comey strode in his direction. The two men shook hands and as Comey leaned in toward Trump, the president patted him on the back a few times.
If you watch the clip closely, it seems as if Trump may have blown Comey a kiss before encouraging him to cross the room for a presidential embrace.It wasn’t surprising that Trump’s principal concern was on Comey’s “fame” — the new president seems to prefer to have headlines to himself — but the scene was nevertheless an awkward one.Congressional Democrats, pollsters, and political scientists agree that were it not for the FBI director’s suspect intervention in the 2016 campaign, Trump would almost certainly not have won the election. Subsequent information from Comey has only enraged Dems further.What’s more, as of right now, Comey’s FBI is part of a multi-agency counterintelligence investigation into top members of the new president’s team.Maybe these two could at least keep up appearances and not pretend to be quite so chummy?
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."