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I Wouldn't Want to Be Left Alone with Trump Either

We are all James Comey.
Image by author via Mark Wilson/Getty Images

James Comey did not want to be left alone in the same room as Trump, current and former law enforcement officials told the New York Times in an article published Tuesday evening. If this is true, Comey is extremely correct.

In February, Comey reportedly told Jeff Sessions that it was inappropriate for the president to have private interactions with the FBI director after Trump asked him to stop investigating recently fired national security advisor Michael Flynn. Sessions couldn't guarantee that the president wouldn't try to get Comey alone.

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If Comey's masterful plan was to earn sympathy among people still bitter about his behavior during the 2016 campaign by emphasizing the horrors of being stuck alone in a room with Donald Trump, well, it's working.

It's not necessarily weird for the president and the FBI director to meet alone; the Times reported that Obama was alone with Comey "at least twice." But it's different for this president and this now-former FBI director—Comey was in charge of an investigation into whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russian hackers, and the Times said that he didn't trust the president.

It seems that Comey's long career as a law enforcement official unfortunately peaked in a series of Larry David–esque awkward social interactions with his new boss. Last month, it was reported that Comey once hid in the drapes of the White House's Blue Room to avoid interacting with Trump. Unfortunately for Comey, he was unable to hide his 6'8" frame, and the president called him over for a handshake and hug. Comey reportedly walked away from the incident "disgusted" and who can blame him?

It's not just Comey who'd rather not be alone in a room with Trump. Before the election, several women—from a former Apprentice contestant to a PEOPLE writer to a woman who sat next to Trump on a plane—accused Trump of sexual harassment or assault. TV host Billy Bush was alone with Trump for a few minutes on a bus one time, and the resulting taped conversation, where Trump talked about grabbing women by the pussy, destroyed Bush's career but somehow didn't stop Trump from winning the election.

Comey wasn't able to prevent himself from being alone with Trump. Weeks later, he was fired. Seems like he should have tried a little harder to hide.

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