Donald Trump ‘morally unfit’ to be President: former FBI chief

Donald Trump is “morally unfit” to be the American President, James Comey, the former FBI director, told ABC News on Sunday, in a longish interview ahead of the release of his book, A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies and Leadership.

“I don't buy this stuff about him being mentally incompetent or early stages of dementia,” remarked Comey. “He strikes me as a person of above average intelligence who's tracking conversations and knows what's going on. I don't think he's medically unfit to be president. I think he's morally unfit to be president.”

The former FBI director repeated the charge again in the interview with George Stephanopoulos, former senior advisor to President Bill Clinton and now a political commentator.

“A person who sees moral equivalence in Charlottesville, who talks about and treats women like they're pieces of meat, who lies constantly about matters big and small and insists the American people believe it, that person's not fit to be president of the United States, on moral grounds,” he declared. “And that's not a policy statement. Again, I don't care what your views are on guns or immigration or taxes.”

According to Comey, the president must embody respect and adhere to the values that are at the core of the US. “The most important being truth. This president is not able to do that. He is morally unfit to be president,” he added.

Comey was sacked from his post as FBI chief last May by Trump for his role while probing Democrat rival Hillary Clinton and a possible investigation into the Republican’s campaign collusion with Russia before the 2016 presidential elections (See: In surprise move, Trump fires FBI director James Comey).

Days before the elections, Comey had also said the FBI would restart a probe into the possible misuse of a private email server by Clinton when she was secretary of state. She later claimed that was a major reason for her loss to Trump.

After excerpts from Comey’s books were released on Twitter, Trump called him an “untruthful slime ball.”

“This president is unethical, and untethered to truth and institutional values,” says the former FBI chief in his book.

Comey, who is extremely tall (6-ft, 8-in) describes Trump (who is shorter at 6-ft, 3-in) in detail in his book, especially his first meeting with the president.

“His face appeared slightly orange, with bright white half-moons under his eyes where I assumed he placed small tanning goggles,” He also had “impressively coifed, bright blond hair, which upon close inspection looked to be all his.”