James Comey Warned About Demagogues Using the Internet to Radicalize — One Day Before ‘Assassination’ Controversy
Former FBI Director James Comey warned about political demagogues radicalizing followers online just one day before sparking backlash over a cryptic social media post that critics say alluded to violence against President Donald Trump.
Comey served as FBI director under both Trump and former President Barack Obama before being fired by the former in 2017.
He appeared on the Sanity podcast with hosts Alisyn Camerota and Dave Briggs on Friday to promote his latest legal thriller, FDR Drive. In the interview, which was recorded before the “86 47” post, Comey described his book as a story about a “right-wing demagogue podcaster” whose inflammatory rhetoric incites violence from his followers.
“The protagonist, Nora Carlton, and her team are trying to figure out how to hold him accountable,” Comey said of the book. “To walk that line between protected speech and crime, and try to hold this guy who’s a bad dude accountable. And it’s complicated.”
Comey concluded of trying his hand at writing fiction, “I didn’t realize that fiction would give me so much more freedom to show people worlds in a real way.”
The comments came just one day before Comey posted a photo to Instagram featuring seashells arranged to read “86 47,” a sequence widely interpreted as political code online. The number “86” is commonly used slang for “get rid of,” while “47” is often used to reference Trump, who is serving as the 47th president.
His Instagram post drew condemnation from many Trump allies and conservative commentators, who accused Comey of implicitly calling for violence against Trump.
The phrase “86 47” is common at anti-Trump protests and online videos.
Comey said that after his post went viral he was unaware the term could be interpreted as a call for violence against Trump. The two have criticized each other for years.
FBI Director Kash Patel said Thursday that Comey’s post was being investigated.
Watch above via Sanity with Alisyn & Dave.
