Fox News senior political analyst Brit Hume fact-checked President Trump Donald John TrumpOmar fires back at Trump over rally remarks: 'This is my country' Pelosi: Trump hurrying to fill SCOTUS seat so he can repeal ObamaCare Trump mocks Biden appearance, mask use ahead of first debate MORE on Thursday regarding the president's assertion that he didn't fire former FBI Director James Comey James Brien ComeyDemocrats fear Russia interference could spoil bid to retake Senate Book: FBI sex crimes investigator helped trigger October 2016 public probe of Clinton emails Trump jabs at FBI director over testimony on Russia, antifa MORE because of the bureau's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

Hume reminded the president on Twitter that he cited the probe as the reason for Comey's dismissal during a May 2017 interview with NBC's Lester Holt.

"Not that it matters but I never fired James Comey because of Russia! The Corrupt Mainstream Media loves to keep pushing that narrative, but they know it is not true!" Trump wrote on Thursday.

Not that it matters but I never fired James Comey because of Russia! The Corrupt Mainstream Media loves to keep pushing that narrative, but they know it is not true! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 31, 2018

"Oh for Pete’s sake. POTUS told NBC the firing was about the Russia probe," Hume commented in retweeting Trump's original remark.

Oh for Pete’s sake. POTUS told NBC the firing was about the Russia probe. https://t.co/IsT546FXnL — Brit Hume (@brithume) May 31, 2018

Trump told "NBC Nightly News" anchor Lester Holt on May 11, 2017, that he wanted the FBI’s investigation to “be so strong and so good."

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“And I want it [the investigation] to happen,” Trump said. "If Russia did anything, I want to know that.”

“I was going to fire Comey knowing, there was no good time to do it. And in fact when I decided to just do it, I said to myself, I said you know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made up story, it's an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should have won,” Trump said at the time.

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"As far as I'm concerned, I want that thing to be absolutely done properly," he added. “I said to myself, I might even lengthen out the investigation, but I have to do the right thing for the American people."

Democrats and some Republican lawmakers publicly questioned the timing of Comey's abrupt firing.

Trump told Holt he wanted someone "competent" to handle the investigation while maintaining there was "no collusion between me and my campaign and the Russians."

"I just want somebody that's competent," Trump said. "I am a big fan of the FBI, I love the FBI."

The interview with Holt was his last major broadcast interview outside of Fox News, where he most recently appeared on May 24 for an interview with co-host Brian Kilmeade on "Fox & Friends."