Fox News senior political analyst Brit Hume on Thursday slapped back at President Donald Trump's tweet that he did not fire FBI Director James Comey last year because of the Russia investigation.
"Oh for Pete’s sake," Hume said in his Twitter retort. "POTUS told NBC the firing was about the Russia probe."
In his tweet, Trump said: "Not that it matters, but I never fired James Comey because of Russia," slamming the "corrupt mainstream media" for "pushing that narrative."
However, in a May 11, 2017, interview with NBC News host Lester Holt at the White House, Trump admitted he fired Comey two days earlier because of Moscow investigation.
"He made a recommendation," Trump said, referring to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. "He's highly respected, very good guy, very smart guy.
"The Democrats like him, the Republicans like him. He made a recommendation.
"But, regardless of [the] recommendation, I was going to fire Comey — knowing there was no good time to do it," the president said.
"And, in fact, when I decided to just do it, I said to myself, I said: 'You know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made-up story, it's an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should've won,'" Trump told Holt.
"And the reason they should've won it is, the Electoral College is almost impossible for a Republican to win.
"It's very hard, because you start off at such a disadvantage," the president said.
"So, everybody was thinking they should have won the election," he said. "This was an excuse for having lost an election."
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