President Trump, James Comey And Their Cringe-Worthy 'HugShake': The Story Behind The Greeting (Watch)

It was the presidential "HugShake" seen across the world, an awkward spectacle that somehow becomes even more cringe-worthy once you know the full story behind it.

The embrace came at a meeting of top law enforcement officials shortly after President Trump's inauguration. The president had called out then-FBI Director James Comey in a room full of law enforcers, and when Comey approached Trump, the president leaned into him for a hug. Comey wanted none of it, reaching out to Trump for a handshake.

Think of young teens ending a first date.

According to Ben Wittes, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute and friend of Comey, the former FBI director was deeply ambivalent about attending the event and definitely did not want to hug the president while the bureau was investigating him. (For more information on this and other political stories, subscribe to the White House Patch for daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

Reviewing the video with hindsight, Wittes' account appears startlingly accurate. When the president calls Comey out, the director emerges from in front of curtains that closely match his suit color; Wittes said that Comey was consciously trying to blend into the drapes so that Trump would not greet him. It didn't work.

Wittes says Comey made up his mind that even if they were going to be seen together "there was not going to be a hug." The hug that does take, place, as Wittes notes, is "entirely one-sided." Trump reaches to embrace Comey while Comey simply shakes the president's hand.

"Comey was disgusted," Wittes wrote. "He regarded the episode as a physical attempt to show closeness and warmth in a fashion calculated to compromise him before Democrats who already mistrusted him."

Watch the video for yourself:

Read Wittes' full account of Comey's relationship with the president.

Photo by Andrew Harrer-Pool/Getty Images