Comey says most Republicans don’t talk to him anymore: ‘I’ve succeeded in pissing off everyone’

Former FBI Director James Comey says that despite his affiliation as a Republican, most Republicans have ceased speaking to him over his handling of the investigation into President Trump’s campaign.

At the Aspen Ideas Festival in Colorado on Saturday, the former FBI chief acknowledged in a discussion with Katie Couric that Americans on both sides of the political spectrum have criticized his actions.

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“Most Republicans don’t talk to me anymore,” Comey said. “I’ve succeeded in pissing off everyone.”

Comey added in the interview that the Justice Department inspector general report, which came out near the end of his media blitz for his book “A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership,” was “painful” to read as it faulted him for his handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server.

“It’s painful to read yourself being criticized,” he added. “Even though I expected to be criticized.”

Despite criticism of his handling of that investigation, Comey added that he received a hug from former Obama Attorney General Loretta Lynch after his firing by Trump last year.

“And I’m an awkward hugger to begin with,” Comey said to laughs, joking about the two officials’ height difference.

Trump has repeatedly criticized the former FBI chief over comments Comey made about Trump during his book tour, arguing on Twitter that Comey should be “prosecuted” over releasing the contents of memos concerning his conversations with Trump to the news media.

“James Comey is a proven LEAKER & LIAR. Virtually everyone in Washington thought he should be fired for the terrible job he did-until he was, in fact, fired,” Trump wrote on Twitter in April.

The president continued in a follow-up tweet, calling Comey a “weak and untruthful slime ball” and saying it was “my great honor to fire James Comey!”

–Updated 7:48 p.m.