Trump no more than a ‘mob boss’

PRESIDENT’S NOT OUT ‘BREAKING LEGS’ Lacks reference points such as religion or history, necessary to be ethical leader.

Former FBI director James Comey told latenight talk show host Stephen Colbert that the way US President Donald Trump leads is “strikingly similar” to a mob boss.

Comey appeared on The Late Show on CBS to promote his tellall memoir, A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies and Leadership, which went on sale on Tuesday.

Colbert asked Comey about how he described in the book the people around Trump as having a mob or a Cosa Nostra quality.

“The leadership style is actually strikingly similar,” he told Colbert.

“I don’t mean it in the sense that Donald Trump is out breaking legs or shaking down shop keepers. I mean it in the sense that (when) he leads, it’s all about the boss.”

Comey said that Trump appears to lack external reference points in his life, such as religion or history, necessary to be an ethical leader.

Trump could be a more ethical leader if he surrounded himself with people who could serve as external reference points.

“But, I wouldn’t be optimistic,” said Comey.

He was fired by Trump in May last year as the Federal Bureau of Investigation was probing connections between Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and Russia’s meddling in the US election.

Referring to Comey’s sacking, Colbert asked him if he was surprised that he got “whacked”.

“I actually was quite surprised because I thought I’m leading the Russia investigation,” Comey replied. “Even though our relationship was becoming strained, there was no way I was going to get fired or whacked.”

Russia has denied interfering and Trump has denied any collusion or improper activity.

Conservative commentators, such as Fox News host Tucker Carlson, have attacked Comey as partisan and indecisive in his handling of the e-mail scandal that dogged Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.

For his part, Trump has repeatedly hurled insulting tweets at Comey, such as calling him a “slime ball”, challenging accusations made in the book and the author’s integrity. –