President Trump stayed on message and did not address former FBI Director James Comey’s testimony during his first public appearance since the Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Thursday.
Trump began his speech Thursday afternoon to the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s Road to Majority Conference in Washington as Comey was still testifying on Capitol Hill.
The president did not tweet during the hearing, despite rumors he would live tweet the event. But his son, Donald Trump Jr., rebutted Comey’s comments in realtime on Twitter. The White House has referred questions about the Comey hearing to Trump’s lawyer, Marc Kasowitz.
Comey’s testimony, about his past conversations with the president, was his first since Trump fired him last month. The former FBI director said during the hearing he believes Trump ousted him because of displeasure over how the Russia investigation was casting a cloud over his presidency. Comey also said he told Trump he personally wasn’t under federal investigation and criticized media outlets for inaccurately reporting stories.
During the Road to Majority Conference, Trump talked up issues of interest to conservatives, including his nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, his withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement, religious liberty, the Mexico City policy on abortion and the efforts to repeal Obamacare.
“You didn’t let me down and I will never let you down,” Trump told the crowd. “We will always support our evangelical community.”
