Story highlights President Bill Clinton fired William Sessions on July 19, 1993

The public response and circumstances were quite different

(CNN) The sharp outcry over President Donald Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey has spurred a national digital history lesson about the dramatic move.

One fun fact is this: Trump isn't the first president to can an FBI director. But the public reaction -- and the circumstances -- surrounding the two cases couldn't be more different.

Nearly a quarter-century ago, President Bill Clinton fired FBI Director William Sessions. It was July 19, 1993, and Clinton was the first President to sack an official from that post.

Harking back to that moment, some Trump backers and Clinton critics today are asking: Why wasn't there the same level of outrage toward Clinton, a Democrat, as there is to Trump, a Republican?

Anger in the social media age

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