Of all the ways 2018 is a world flipped upside down, this might be the most emblematic. Conservatives are ecstatic that the government fired an employee for expressing his private opinion outside of work.
FBI agent Peter Strzok has been a boogeyman to the far-right for years; he’s the guy who was at the center of a deep state conspiracy to keep President Donald Trump from ascending to the White House.
Today, the FBI let him go for sending anti-Trump texts to a fellow agent, including one that said “we’ll stop” Trump from ever becoming president. Strzok’s time at the FBI was likely numbered after the June release of an inspector general report that said he and others had a “willingness to take official action” to harm President Trump’s election prospects.
His firing sent conservative pundits and members of Congress into a tizzy.
https://twitter.com/PoliticalShort/status/1029025521290625025
https://twitter.com/V_actually/status/1029031210645905408
Finally, belatedly Peter Strok gets the axe. I hope this is the beginning of a much larger cleanup at FBI and DOJ https://t.co/bD4p6pCi7q
— Dinesh D'Souza (@DineshDSouza) August 13, 2018
Finally — FBI fires Peter Strzok, whose sent anti-Trump texts to his girlfriend Lisa Page on his government cell phone. Should have happened a long time ago!
— Corey R. Lewandowski (@CLewandowski_) August 13, 2018
The firing of anti-Trump FBI agent Peter Strzok is welcome, if overdue. By exhibiting such rampant bias, Strzok did enormous damage to the FBI and to the country.
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) August 13, 2018
Trump also weighed in, saying that crossing someone off a list made the list longer?
Agent Peter Strzok was just fired from the FBI – finally. The list of bad players in the FBI & DOJ gets longer & longer. Based on the fact that Strzok was in charge of the Witch Hunt, will it be dropped? It is a total Hoax. No Collusion, No Obstruction – I just fight back!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 13, 2018
He also said because of the firing, the FBI should re-open its investigation into Hillary Clinton.
Just fired Agent Strzok, formerly of the FBI, was in charge of the Crooked Hillary Clinton sham investigation. It was a total fraud on the American public and should be properly redone!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 13, 2018
Of course.