Story highlights Andrew McCabe's comments were far more about him defending a friend

Sticking up for Comey is actually the least politically expedient thing that McCabe could do

Washington (CNN) One of the main reasons that President Donald Trump fired FBI Director James Comey on Tuesday night was because the rank-and-file workers at the bureau simply didn't like Comey and, more importantly, didn't feel like they could trust him.

That was the line of argument coming from the White House on Wednesday via deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

"The President, over the last several months, lost confidence in Director Comey," she said at the daily press briefing . "The DOJ lost confidence in Director Comey. Bipartisan members of Congress made it clear that they had lost confidence in Director Comey. And, most importantly, the rank-and-file of the FBI had lost confidence in their director."

Then, later, she added: "We've heard from countless members of the FBI that say very different things. In fact, the President will be meeting with acting Director (Andrew) McCabe later today to discuss that very thing -- the morale at the FBI -- as well as make an offer to go directly to the FBI if he feels that that's necessary and appropriate."

During an interview with NBC on Thursday, Trump doubled down on the idea that Comey wasn't liked within the FBI. "He's a show boat, he's a grand stander, the FBI has been in turmoil. You know that, I know that. Everybody knows that," Trump told Lester Holt.

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