James Comey has admitted that there is a deep state but claimed that it was actually a 'deep ballast' against corruption.

The fired FBI director said there is a group of people in law enforcement, intelligence and the military who work for what they see as the interests of America.

Comey described the group as 'unchangeable' and said no single president could change them because they are so embedded in the bureaucracy.

He said the group was not a 'deep state conspiring against the elected leadership of our government' because they were trying to do the right thing.

Comey made the admission on the first day of his nationwide book tour to promote his memoir, 'A Higher Loyalty', which sharply criticizes Donald Trump.

Former FBI director James Comey told a crowd in New York that there is a 'collection of people, CIA, NSA, FBI' working toward what they see as the interests of the United States

The fired FBI director described the group of officials as 'unchangeable' because they're so embedded in bureaucracy

Comey arrives at the Barnes & Noble store in Union Square, New York, during an event to promote his book, A Higher Loyalty

At Barnes & Noble in New York's Union Square on Wednesday evening, Comey was met with protests inside and outside the store from pro and anti-Trump protesters, one of whom shouted: 'You're going to get locked up'.

Speaking to the crowd, Comey said: 'There is a deep state in this sense. There is a collection of people, CIA, NSA, FBI in the United State military services who care passionately about getting it right, who care passionately about the values we try to talk about.

'No matter how they vote or how they talk at home, try desperately to do the right thing. That is deep, that is unchangeable actually.

'No president at a single term could screw it up. It would take generations to change the culture of the United States military in its essence, federal law enforcement, of intelligence community. It would take generations, and that should comfort us.

'There is a ballast, there is deep ballast in America. There is not a deep state conspiring against the elected leadership of our government.

'In fact the adherence to values and the loyalty to the nation makes all of those people who are the ballast of this country desperately want the elected leadership of this country to succeed.'

Comey continued his attacks on Trump and said that he had developed a thick skin to the tweets from the President, which include calling him a 'slimeball'.

Comey was met with protests inside and outside the store from pro and anti-Trump protesters, one of whom shouted: 'You're going to get locked up'

Trump supporters wore Make America Great Again hats and carried handcuffs and signs that read 'Women for Trump'

The crowd outside the Barnes & Noble in New York's Union Square shouted at Comey as he walked into the store

One protester at the event held a sign reading 'Leaker and Liar' and featured a photo of Comey with a photoshopped Pinocchio nose

Comey said: 'What we face today is a situation where lying has become so normal that when I wake up in the morning and see the President of the United States has called for my imprisonment, I actually shrug - shrug, I'm not kidding.

'Then I stop myself and say wait a minute, that shrug means you're becoming numb to something that is not OK, that is not normal'.

Comey was asked if he was worried Trumpism will still be around after Trump leaves office and said that he hoped the passions for issues like the effects of globalization would remain.

But he said: 'What I hope goes away is the derogation and the avoidance of those values which I think are so important to us, the rule of law the most important among them, and that we can have disagreements about policy about policy without hating each other and without having to tear down the values that are the core of this country.

'I don't expect political passions will leave the scene but what should leave the scene is the anger and the derogation of our values'.

In a lighter moment Comey revealed that his children want Kyle Chandler from Friday Night Lights to play him in the movie of his life, even though Comey thinks the actor is too short.

Motioning to his height, 6ft, 8in, Comey, who stood alone on stage during the hour long appearance, said: 'You know what the problem is, a lot of camera angles would have to be used'.

In A Higher Loyalty Comey (pictured) likens Trump to a mob boss whose constant talking is a way of getting the silent assent of those around him

Shortly after she was led out by security an anti-Trump protester, another dark-haired woman in her 20s, stood up and screamed: 'Trump is a fascist!'

The former director of the FBI was told by alt right activist Laura Loomer: 'You're going to get locked up' as he spoke at the event on Wednesday

The two protesters were in the crowd and spoke up during Comey's Q&A with the audience.

The first was alt-right activist Laura Loomer who shouted: 'You're going to get locked up'!

Loomer shouted that 'Comey is a criminal' and that he was going to get 'prosecuted for your transgressions'.

Shortly after she was led out by security an anti-Trump protester, a dark-haired woman in her 20s, got up screaming: 'Trump is a fascist!'

She held a sign which read: 'Trump is a fascist and Comey is responsible.'

She was hauled out by security in front of the crowd of 250 people who shouted them both down while Comey laughed it off and carried on answering questions.

Comey was fired by Trump last May while he was leading the investigation into meddling by the Russians in the 2016 US presidential election.

Trump's decision led to the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller, whose probe has become a continuing political crisis for Trump.

The president was asked on Wednesday if he planned to fire Mueller and the deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein and replied simply: 'They're still here.'

In A Higher Loyalty, Comey likens Trump to a mob boss whose constant talking is a way of getting the silent assent of those around him.

A protester holds up a Women For Trump sign outside the Barnes and Noble store in Union Square on Wednesday

There were protesters both for and against Trump outside the store, which was protected by a row of police officers

One protester outside the event held up a sign saying: ‘Jail Comey’ and another help up a sign saying: ‘Trump Pence

These protesters held a banner reading 'Re-Elect Donald J. Trump Keep America Great! 2020'

As Comey described it: 'This president is unethical, and untethered to truth and institutional values. His leadership is transactional, ego driven and about personal loyalty'.

Comey also mocked Trump as 'slightly orange' and said that he never saw him laugh, a sign that he took himself too seriously.

Writing about the Trump White House, Comey said: 'The lying about all things, large and small, in service to some code of loyalty that put the organization above morality and above the truth.'

The President fired back in a series of Twitter rants in which he called Comey a 'liar' but Comey has not been dissuaded and his appearance at Barnes & Noble was part of media blitz for the book.

He has already sat down for two interviews with George Stephanopoulos on ABC and others which will take place include Jake Tapper on CNN, NBC's Today Show and Bret Baier on Fox News.

In the coming weeks Comey will tour the United States and make stops in Chicago, Portland, San Francisco, Seattle, Los Angeles, Miami and finally Kansas City.

A Higher Loyalty is currently at No. 1 in the Amazon bestseller chart, knocking 'Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House', an expose of Trump's team by Michael Wolff, down to 73.