Capitol Report
By State Representative, Leon D. Young
Leon D. Young
It’s on! The war of words and character assassination between Donald Trump and James Comey has heated up considerably, as each party has begun resorting to personal attacks. Fueled, in large measure, by the release of former FBI Director James Comey’s new book, A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies and Leadership, the gloves have apparently come off.
In his first interview with ABC News’ chief anchor George Stephanopoulos, since being fired as the head of the FBI, James Comey freely articulates several startling revelations about the chief executive and his former boss Donald Trump. Comey’s first stunning confession was Trump’s reticence to criticize Vladimir Putin, even in privately. He asserts, “I can understand a president making a geopolitical decision that, “I ought not to criticize an adversary country’s leader for some reason publicly.” But I discovered President Trump refused to do it even behind closed doors.
Another, rather embarrassing disclosure, was Comey’s personal description of the president-elect upon their first encounter. He writes, “He [Trump] had– impressively coiffed hair, it looks to be all his. I confess, I stared at it closely and my reaction was, ‘It must take a heck of a lot of time in the morning, but it’s impressively coiffed.’ He looked– his tie was too long, as it always is. He looked slightly orange up close with small white—halfmoons under his eyes, which I assume are from tanning googles.”
Perhaps, the most damning indictment from the former FBI head was his unabashed assertion that Donald Trump was “morally unfit to be president” and that it was “possible” that the Russians had material that could be used to blackmail him. In addition, Comey has blasted Trump as unethical and “untethered to the truth.” Comey berates his former boss further by comparing him to a mafia don and calls his leadership of the country “ego driven and about personal loyalty.”
Naturally, Comey’s book and subsequent media tour has literally sent this president over the edge – once again. In a barrage of new tweets, Trump has excoriated Comey claiming that he (Comey) “will go down as the WORST FBI Director in history, by far!” In another unflattering tweet, Trump called Comey a “slime ball” and has proceeded to question his intelligence on more than one occasion.
Ironically, Trump and Comey now find themselves in each other’s crosshairs. After all, in my view, both men have some similar character traits (or flaws, if you will). For instance, they both have enormous egos and relish any opportunity to be the center of attention. They both have made enormous mistakes in performing their duties as public servants and project a definite air of arrogance. And, after Comey’s tell-all book, it’s abundantly clear that neither man has any qualms about wallowing in the mud to advance their objective.
In the final analysis, I defer to your judgment to decide which one (Trump or Comey) is more dishonest and unsavory?