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Fox News unable to find Republicans 'willing to go on camera' to defend Trump following explosive Comey memo

'What I think is really stunning is that nobody has come out under their own name in defence of the President'

Alexandra Wilts
Washington DC
Wednesday 17 May 2017 12:00 EDT
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Fox News host say there are no Republicans willing to defend Trump on TV

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Fox News was apparently unable to find a single Republican willing to go on camera to speak up for President Donald Trump in the wake of reports that he asked then-FBI Director James Comey to end an investigation into the former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.

According to the New York Times, Mr Comey wrote in a memo that the President told him: “I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go.”

The existence of the memo, which was reportedly written by Mr Comey himself, suggests that Mr Trump had attempted to influence investigations into his associates and Russia. There is a broader probe into possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign, as well as a separate investigation into Mr Flynn.

The release of details about the memo appears to have made it difficult for Fox to book interviews with Republican politicians.

“We’ve tried tonight to get Republicans to come out and talk to us, and there are not Republicans willing to go on camera tonight as of yet, and we'll see if that changes“ said Bret Baier, host of “Special Report.”

Columnist Charles Krauthammer appeared on “Special Report”, confirming Mr Baier’s claim.

“What I think is really stunning is that nobody, not even from the White House, has come out under their own name in defence of the President here,” Mr Krauthammer said.

“We don’t see any Republicans on camera,” he added. “And that is totally understandable. They’ve just watched over the last 10 days, people who went out on a limb on the Comey firing, and said it was the result of the memo from the deputy Attorney General, and had their limb sawn off by Donald Trump himself without a flinch.”

Last week, Mr Trump abruptly dismissed FBI Director James Comey, and then contradicted his press team and Vice President Mike Pence when explaining the reasoning behind the firing.

Mr Trump said he would have fired Mr Comey “regardless of recommendation” from the Justice Department. But the White House had first reported that the President acted on the recommendations of Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

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