Former FBI Director James Comey Endorses Biden, But Biden’s Campaign Rejects The Support
Former FBI Director James Comey voiced his support for former Vice President Joe Biden on Twitter earlier today. The endorsement comes as large numbers of Americans head to the voting booth for Super Tuesday.
Comey is just one of a number of political figures recently endorsing the former senator from Delaware. Others include former 2020 Democratic presidential nomination rivals Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, and Beto O’Rouke.
Though Comey is a registered Republican, he is well-known for his contentious relationship with President Trump after being fired by the former New York businessman in May 2017.
Since leaving the FBI, Comey has openly criticized his former boss, going so far as to call him a “withered” and “sad old guy” this past December. Accordingly, it was little surprise that Comey did not shy away from getting in yet another dig at the president in his endorsement tweet.
“Voted in first Dem primary to support party dedicated to restoring values in WH. I agree with [Amy Klobuchar]; We need candidate who cares about all Americans and will restore decency, dignity to the office. There is a reason Trump fears [Joe Biden] and roots for Bernie. #Biden2020,” Comey wrote.
The statement of support soon had the former FBI director trending on Twitter, where he was mentioned over 10,000 times.
However, Comey might not have been making waves in the way that he hoped after it appeared that the Biden campaign did not want to accept the endorsement.
“Yes, customer service? I just received a package that I very much did not order. How can I return it, free of charge?” tweeted Andrew Yates, the Director of Rapid Response for Biden’s campaign, in a reply to Comey’s support.
The response received over 1,500 retweets and more than 10,000 likes. However, it also received a number of comments from users who claimed that the statement was unnecessary and unprofessional.
As a result, Yates seemed to walk back the tweet, claiming that he was simply “joking” about Comey’s endorsement in a follow-up.
“I forgot the #1 rule of politics, which is that if you talk about anyone or anything related to 2016, common sense goes out the window,” he wrote.
“We appreciate the vote of anyone repelled by Donald Trump,” Yates concluded.
After a resounding victory in South Carolina, Biden’s campaign is gathering more and more momentum. In fact, recent polls have found that the former vice president is currently leading in seven out of 14 Super Tuesday states and has retaken the national lead from Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.
Meanwhile, Comey remains a controversial figure in Democratic circles — as well as conservative one — as many on the left blame him for Hillary Clinton’s loss to Trump in 2016.
