On May 15, former FBI Director James Comey posted the following strange and cryptic message on his Instagram account:
The post was deleted after it sparked a firestorm of criticism, with many decoding it as a call for violence against President Trump. Comey immediately denied the accusation, insisting he’s opposed to all violence and that he assumed the message was merely political.
Not everyone is convinced, though. Investigative reporter Breanna Morello says there’s no doubt it’s a call for violence.
“Man oh man, do these people love to egg on their radical far-left, mentally unwell supporters to go out there and try to kill the president,” she tells Hilary Kennedy and Blaze News editor in chief Matthew Peterson on an episode of “Blaze News: The Mandate.”
“People use [86] metaphorically, but I think what we could say here is when you are who James Comey is … you were in charge of the most powerful enforcement body in the country; this is obviously a kind of different thing to post,” says Peterson, noting that two assassination attempts plus “the weaponization of the deep state” have led to a heightened sensitivity, and rightly so.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has made it clear she interpreted the message as a direct threat as well. On a recent Fox News segment, she told Jesse Watters that Comey was “issuing a hit on President Trump.”
“That is a ridiculous and insane statement to make certainly within this context, but especially coming from a guy who’s the former director of the FBI, a guy who spent most of his career prosecuting mobsters and gangsters — people who know and execute other humans and use this exact lingo of 86,” she added. “The rule of law says people like him who issue direct threats against the president of the United States, essentially issuing a call to assassinate him, must be held accountable under the law.”
She concluded by saying that she believes Comey should be in jail for this Instagram post.
“Tulsi Gabbard is 100% correct,” says Morello. “People like [Ryan Wesley Routh] are going to see things like what Comey just posted, and they’re going to go all in on this.”
President Trump clearly thought so as well. “That meant assassination,” he told Fox News’ Bret Baier. “He wasn’t very competent, but he was competent enough to know what that meant.”
To hear more of the conversation and see the footage of Gabbard and President Trump’s comments on Fox, watch the episode above.
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