It’s not just Donald Trump that’s ‘morally unfit’ for US politics, senior Republican activist says
- Comey told ABC news Sunday that Trump is "morally unfit to be president."
- Trump fired Comey last year during an FBI probe into possible ties between alleged Russian meddling in the U.S. election and Trump's 2016 campaign.
- Comey is releasing a book Tuesday that reportedly includes details on the U.S. president.
A Republican strategist leapt to the defense of President Donald Trump following comments made by former FBI Director James Comey at the weekend.
Comey told ABC news Sunday that Trump is "morally unfit to be president." But Jan Halper-Hayes, who was a consultant to Trump's transition team and the former chair of Republicans Overseas, said he is not the only politician with a questionable character.
"There are so many in Congress that are morally unfit," she told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" Tuesday.
"I know a lot of politicians that are morally unfit, and what ideal do we have? I mean really I know that we set these high values and these ideals and there are a lot of people that don't subscribe to high values and still accomplish things," she added.
Trump fired Comey last year during an FBI probe into possible ties between alleged Russian meddling in the U.S. election and Trump's 2016 campaign. Both Moscow, Trump and the White House deny any wrongdoing.
According to Halper-Hayes, the question people should be asking is whether the lawmakers in office are getting the job done.
"Are we going to have an idealistic view or are we going to have a problem-solver in there? (in the White House)," she asked.
Brian Klaas, fellow in comparative politics at the London School of Economics, countered by telling CNBC that a president should be a "man of principle and character."
"If Hillary Clinton was being accused of these things, I would not be standing here defending her. I think there's an objective view about what you should expect of your leaders and Donald Trump is not even close to that," he said Tuesday morning.
"Do you believe this (Trump) is a person who's a man of principle and character, the answer is clearly no, so then the question is why do you defend him?," he questioned.
Comey is releasing a book Tuesday that reportedly includes details on the U.S. president.