After Trump fired FBI Director James Comey on Tuesday, multiple members of his administration insisted the decision was based on recommendations from his Justice Department. “President Trump acted based on the clear recommendations of both Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Attorney General Jeff Sessions,” White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said in a Tuesday statement. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Vice President Mike Pence confirmed that Trump accepted Rosenstein’s recommendation.
But in an excerpt of an interview with NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt that aired on Thursday, Trump said he was already planning to fire Comey prior to the recommendations:
BREAKING: I was going to fire Comey anyway, Pres. Trump tells @LesterHoltNBC in exclusive interview at White House https://t.co/MAmo1PE1RL
— NBC Nightly News (@NBCNightlyNews) May 11, 2017
It’s just the latest example of Trump undercutting his own White House, and a reminder to the American people not to believe anything they say.
The big thing here: Trump is not even *pretending* that his own written lie, repeated over and over by his administration, is the truth.
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) May 11, 2017
Trump's statement he "was going to fire regardless of recommendation" contradicts every on-the-record statement from WH aides in past 2 days
— Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) May 11, 2017
The humiliation visited upon lackeys and surrogates almost makes this whole nightmare worthwhile https://t.co/VfqKMFmNFm
— Isaac Chotiner (@IChotiner) May 11, 2017
Deputy White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders will now have to explain why she said on Wednesday that Trump hadn’t decided to terminate Comey in advance. Sean Spicer is somewhere inside the Pentagon, smiling.