After President Donald Trump abruptly fired FBI Director James Comey on Tuesday, Democratic leaders and media members pounced on the opportunity to condemn Trump for what they called a "Nixonian" move, some even calling for his impeachment.
However, not too long before that, the same lawmakers criticizing Trump for a supposed abuse of power were calling for Comey's firing themselves, declaring that Comey was unfit to lead the federal bureau. The Daily Caller compiled media clips of the most blatant flip-flops, which include comments made by Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Jarrold Nadler (D- N.Y.), CNN political analyst David Gregory, and Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.).
"The president ought to fire Comey immediately, and he ought to initiate an investigation," Nadler said in November as he urged former President Barack Obama to remove Comey for his handling of failed Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's email investigation, which Nadler said very well may have cost her the presidential election.
Today, Nadler takes a much different position.
"It is clear that the motive, that this firing was to stop an investigation that the president feared. History will conclude that this is the equivalent or worse than the Saturday Night Massacre by President [Richard] Nixon," Nadler declared earlier this week.
Waters made similar contradicting comments, saying after the election that Comey had lost credibility, yet criticizing Trump for making the move to fire him. When asked if she thought Clinton should have fired Comey, had she won, Waters had a perplexing answer.
"If she had won the White House, I believe that given what he did to her — and what he tried to do — she should have fired him, yes," Waters responded.
Trump's firing of Comey raised questions for some Democratic lawmakers who said Trump should not be allowed to fire Comey while the FBI was investigating the Trump campaign's alleged ties to Russia.
Trump reiterated Thursday that he was not under investigation. However, acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe said Thursday during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Capitol Hill that a "highly significant investigation" of alleged Russia involvement in the 2016 elections was underway and would continue.
