Trump Fails Media's Optics Test on Comey

While Wikileaks helped sink Hillary Clinton’s bid to be president of the United States, allegations that the hackers who released the information were somehow colluding with President Trump have plagued the start of his term.

It’s easy to rebut such claims: the Democrats actually were doing the things revealed in the emails which showed such disdain for the American public, and are simply upset that they were exposed for being exactly what Trump accused them of being. However, the media and political environment being what it is, many Americans believe an investigation is warranted, if for no other reason that to prove there was no collusion between President Trump and the Russian government.

Firing the director of the FBI a day before meeting with the Russian foreign minister was anything but careful.

Of course Comey was a problem. He refused to recommend prosecution for Hillary’s obvious violations because Clinton didn’t show clear “intent,” despite intent not being mentioned in the law. Then he made statements under oath that later needed to be walked back. He stated that investigations by his bureau possibly swaying the election made him “slightly nauseous,” when his job is fair law enforcement, not politics.

Comey needed to go. The problem isn’t Comey’s firing, but that his media and political opponents can easily exploit it.

Had Comey been removed when Trump took office, little would have been said. The Leftist media would have made hay over it, but it would have died down with the news cycle. But now, with media focused on sworn testimony over the Russia allegations, and just 24 hours before a visit by a key Russian official, Trump decided to show Comey the door.

Maybe Trump just wanted to shift the narrative away from Michael Flynn — the master media manipulator at work and all that. Well, he shifted it right to a worse situation. Donald Trump has failed the optics test on Russia now, and many Americans who put stock in political theater are now taking a much different look at the claims. They can be told that Comey was looking into the Russian allegations, and may change their minds about the issue.

Very few days of Trump’s administration so far would have been worse times to terminate Comey. The media manipulator blew it.