Comey reportedly told friends Trump was 'outside the realm of normal'

Donald Trump.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Former FBI Director James Comey didn't mince words when describing President Trump to associates: He was "outside the realm of normal" and "crazy," people with knowledge of his conversations told The New York Times.

Comey and Trump were never in sync; the president was angry that Comey didn't back him up on his baseless claim that former President Barack Obama wiretapped Trump Tower, and he didn't think Comey did enough to stop leaks coming from the FBI, while Comey, besides thinking Trump was "crazy," worried he was a loose cannon who said inappropriate things, especially on Twitter, the Times reports. Trump was also outraged when Comey, during a hearing on Capitol Hill, said he was "mildly nauseous" at the thought that the way he handled Hillary Clinton's email investigation tipped the election to favor Trump, and that motivated him to fire Comey. "With a president who seems to prize personal loyalty above all else and a director with absolute commitment to the Constitution and pursuing investigations wherever the evidence led, a collision was bound to happen," Daniel C. Richman, a Comey adviser, told the Times.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.