--- title: James Comey Fired: Stephen Colbert Explains Why description: "Now, while it looks like Donald Trump fired James Comey to stop the Russian investigation — that is why," Colbert said on the "Late Show" canonical: https://time.com/4775541/stephen-colbert-james-comey-fired-russia/ author: Jennifer Calfas article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-05-11T13:23:20.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T04:52:34.940Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Stephen Colbert Is 'Pretty Confident' Trump Fired Comey to Stop Russian Investigation og:description: "He's not some wizard playing three-dimensional chess. He's playing Hungry-Hungry Hippos." og:url: https://time.com/4775541/stephen-colbert-james-comey-fired-russia/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Stephen Colbert Is 'Pretty Confident' Trump Fired Comey to Stop Russian Investigation twitter:description: "He's not some wizard playing three-dimensional chess. He's playing Hungry-Hungry Hippos." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Stephen Colbert Is 'Pretty Confident' Trump Fired James Comey to Stop Russian Investigation ## Video: President Trump Breaks Silence on Comey Firing: 'He Wasn't Doing a Good Job' [Watch (HLS stream): President Trump Breaks Silence on Comey Firing: 'He Wasn't Doing a Good Job'](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/a9a4X8DL.m3u8) (0:19)  _Published 2017-05-10. President Trump broke his silence Wednesday on his decision to terminate FBI Director James Comey, saying he made the decision because he wasn't performing well_ by [Jennifer Calfas](https://time.com/author/jennifer-calfas/) ## Jennifer Calfas May 11, 2017 1:23 PM UTC by [Jennifer Calfas](https://time.com/author/jennifer-calfas/) ## Jennifer Calfas May 11, 2017 1:23 PM UTC The White House has said President Donald Trump dismissed FBI director James Comey over his handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server. But Stephen Colbert doesn’t buy it. “The question is: Why did Trump do it?” Colbert asked on Wednesday night’s _Late Show_. “Now, while it looks like Donald Trump fired James Comey to stop the Russian investigation — that is why.” [Colbert](http://time.com/4773166/stephen-colbert-jon-stewart-daily-show-reunion/) said he is “pretty confident” in his reasoning. “Because one thing we’ve learned from the last two years of Donald Trump is what it seems like he’s doing is exactly what he’s doing,” Colbert continued. “There’s no grand strategy; he’s not some puppet master; he’s not some wizard playing three-dimensional chess. He’s playing Hungry-Hungry Hippos.” Before he was fired, Comey was investigating whether the Trump campaign had colluded with Russian officials to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election. “There’s nothing deeper going on. He’s a baby pool. You could not get your ankles wet in Donald Trump.” Citing [a New York _Times_ report](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/09/us/politics/comey-trump-fbi-live.html) that said Trump had allegedly told Justice Department officials to find reasons to fire Comey, Colbert created a new nickname for the department: the “Department of Justification.” Colbert also pointed to a Wednesday tweet from the president. “Comey lost the confidence of almost everyone in Washington, Republican and Democrat alike. When things calm down, they will be thanking me,” Trump [tweeted](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/862267781336752128). “All right, how should we thank him?” Colbert asked his audience. “We should get him something special. 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