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James Comey’s Footwear Choice Last Night Was About as Controversial as His Interview on ABC

People on Twitter had a lot to say about those Chelsea boots.

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James Comey Interview — AP/REX/Shutterstock

James Comey suited up for battle with President Donald Trump on Sunday night, appearing in an hourlong interview on ABC News following a weekend of presidential tweets calling him “slippery,” a “slimeball,” and “the WORST FBI Director in history, by far!” His version of combat footwear? A pair of polished Chelsea boots.

Twitter was quick to react to the choice — though as with seemingly anything this administration touches, opinions were polarized.

Media consultant and columnist Heidi N. Moore joked that she has “long believed you cannot trust a man in a plaid sports jacket OR Chelsea boots, and Comey is wearing both,” adding that (for men at least) the pull-on style is “the shoe form of smarm.”

https://twitter.com/moorehn/status/985713806151245824

Others, meanwhile, applauded the fashion-forward footwear, calling the boots a “nice choice” and the “low-key star” of the interview. Along with the jacket — a subtle navy plaid, but plaid nonetheless — and lack of tie, the ousted intelligence director projected a relatively casual air across from ABC chief anchor George Stephanopolous.

Watch on FN

At 6-foot-8, Comey is hardly inconspicuous in any room (recall, for instance, the time he tried to blend into the curtains to avoid an awkward interaction with the president on Inauguration Day), and this week he’ll be perhaps more visible than ever, embarking on a media blitz to promote his new book, “A Higher Loyalty,” due to be released on Tuesday.

If Sunday night’s interview is any indication, he won’t be pulling any punches, either. He told ABC that the president “lies constantly” and is “morally unfit” to be commander in chief, and even offered some colorful commentary on his appearance: “His tie was too long, as it always is. He looked slightly orange up close. with small, white half moons under his eyes, which I assume are from tanning googles.”