Yuri Gripas/Reuters
President Donald Trump said on Saturday he was “surprised” at the Democrats’ reactions to his firing of FBI Director James Comey, given that many of them had criticized Comey for the better part of the part year. “I guess I was a little bit surprised, because all of the Democrats, I mean, they hated Jim Comey,” Trump told Fox News’ Jeanine Pirro in an interview that aired Saturday. “They didn’t like him, they wanted him fired, or whatever, and then all of a sudden they come up with these glowing reports. You know, look, it’s politics.” Trump echoed similar reported reactions from his administration in expressing shock at the backlash, but contradicted his vice president, among others, when he said he was planning to dismiss Comey “regardless” of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein’s recommendation. “It’s beyond being a hypocrite. You have these tremendous—the level of hatred toward him, especially during that period of time with Hillary Clinton where he gave her a free ride,” Trump added.