Gary Cameron/Reuters
Real estate developer Donald Trump gestures before giving a luncheon speech at the National Press Club in Washington May 27, 2014.
President Donald Trump threw darts at Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Tuesday night in his first public comments after his unexpected firing of FBI Director James Comey."Cryin' Chuck Schumer stated recently, 'I do not have confidence in him (James Comey) any longer." Then acts so indignant. #draintheswamp," Trump said in a tweet, hours after news of Comey's firing rocked the nation.
Trump's reference to "cryin' Chuck Schumer" Tuesday night appeared to recall an earlier insult to Schumer in the days following Trump's executive order on immigration and refugees, as lawmakers almost universally slammed the president's directive to ban travel to the US from a handful of majority-Muslim nations. Schumer shed tears during a press conference on the matter.
The president has received a wave of criticism after Comey's firing, due in part to the FBI's ongoing investigation into his campaign's ties to Russia, and because Trump previously spoke glowingly of Comey and his involvement in investigations of his political rivals.
Schumer, for his part, said earlier Tuesday that he told Trump he was "making a big mistake" by firing Comey. He called for the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate the Trump campaign's ties to Russia.
"We know that the House is investigating Russian interference in our election that benefitted the Trump campaign," Schumer said. "We know the Senate is investigating. We know the FBI has been looking into whether the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians - a very serious offense. Were those investigations getting too close to home for the president?"