James Comey Applauds His Own Suit-Wearing Courage in Psaki Fan-Fic Interview

MSNBC host and former White House press secretary Jen Psaki spoke with former FBI Director James Comey about President Donald Trump over the weekend. To call the interview “soft” or “fawning” – or “interview” – would be a disservice to any of those words.

So let’s just call it 14-ish regrettable minutes on MSNBC’s The Briefing.

Psaki’s old job was to serve a daily diet of spin for President Joe Biden to a press corps more eager to gulp it down than Dickensian urchins crying out “more please.” Now she hosts a show on MSNBC. The more things change…

The former Biden aide recently claimed she missed the president’s decline because she’s “not a doctor.” A frail denial — but perfect practice for her call-and-response with Comey.

Still, an heroic novelization of James Comey — who was despised among Democrats before becoming an Instagram Goth — is so nonsensical even a miracle couldn’t make it seem serious or consequential.

But Psaki gave it her mediocre-est try, anyway. And she wasn’t just indulgent — she was actively deceptive, starting with the “86 47” threat.

She referred to his now-infamous image of seashells spelling out “86 47” — shorthand for “eighty-six forty-seven,” i.e., remove Donald Trump, the 47th president — as “a relatively benign social media post.” She claimed Comey merely “came across” the shells, as if he stumbled across nature’s own anti-Trump protest while out birdwatching in khakis.

Let’s not belabor it, but posting “86 47” on social media was a trend for months before Comey-come-lately bandwagoned in then backtracked out. It was on Instagram and TikTok, signs at protests, t-shirts and mugs. Often with very sinister imagery.

Psaki wasn’t just whitewashing the meme, she was recasting the play, with “unnamed provocateur” in the starring role and Comey demoted to “guy who takes pictures of things he trips on.”

“I mentioned you’ve talked about this controversy over the social media post. I mentioned it. You willingly met with secret service officials. Is it over now?” she asked Comey when the interview finally began. (Ahem. “Willingly“?)

Comey — whose post was about Trump, and whose TV interviews, including the one at hand, are almost exclusively about Trump — replied that Trump is “obsessed” with him in a “weird way.”

And this was just the first question. So, how bad did it get?

At one point, Comey waxed worshipful in admiring his own selfless courage for donning a suit and tie, again — dramatically calling it his “old uniform” with an air of solemn duty — instead of blue jeans and My Chemical Romance t-shirts. You know, because of bravery and dictators and whatnot.

“You’re promoting a book, which we’ll talk about that, and you’ve had to respond to these questions about the seashells,” said Psaki, establishing Comey’s self-interest in doing the interview before asking what his interest in doing interviews is. “You could choose to not be out there publicly and talking about these issues. Why have you chosen to be out?”

I mean you literally just said why, but okay. Here’s Comey’s answer:

I was actually, and I’m embarrassed to say, trying to withdraw a little bit, especially since last November. Be a grandfather, be an author, wear t-shirts and jeans all the time, and the reason I’m dressed in my old uniform is to remind myself that’s the coward’s way. You must stand up and speak. Everyone who can speak, I can speak about the rule of law, especially needs to be out there because there are real serious threats and the only thing that’s necessary for them to triumph is for good men and women to be silent.

Geez, get a room with yourself already. Then post an Instagram of it so Psaki can attribute it to “emos unknown.” Although you do have to admire his chutzpah in claiming there’s something he’s “embarrassed to say.” It does NOT show.

For her part, Psaki responded with a question so faux it would make Elizabeth Warren blush: “Since you are the former FBI director, I wanted to ask you about some of the things going on there. I mean, Kash Patel, I think was quite a choice, is one diplomatic way of saying it.”

“Quite a choice“? Did she know in advance she was interviewing someone? That premise is thinner than the line between MSNBC and a DNC press release. It’s like not saying anything at all. In fact, that might have been the smarter move. Instead, she asked, “what do you make of the job he’s doing so far, and what concerns you the most about it?”

“Why are you so brave?” “What do you make of this?” Is it Pulitzer season yet?

These aren’t real questions. It’s like “what’s enchanted you the most” but without the whimsy. Or preparation. Or gravitas.

Oh but the fake interview wasn’t over by a longshot. There were two more “what do you make of thats”, a “what do you think about that”, and a “how do you think about that” still to go.

You get the picture — even without seashells to spell it out.

Now of course, you don’t have to challenge a guest every time they’re on the air. Maybe asking “how did you end up with that seashell pic?” was off the table. Perhaps he wouldn’t have agreed to come on if she’d asked, “what do you think of the sentiment in the shells, which many say just means ‘impeach,’ for example?”

But opening with fan fiction about him stumbling across it? That part was all Psaki.

The fact is, she wasn’t interviewing him. That’s not why Democrats come on her show. It’s a performance. They show up to deliver talking points. She’s there to cue them, one reverent “what do you make of that” at a time. It’s not journalism. It’s barely infotainment — vaudevillian though it may be. It’s a delivery system. A pulpit. A place where people like James Comey preach to the choir and hope the choir buys their book.

A Snapchat-filtered dose of make-believe — capped by the ritual pretense that it’s brave.

Frankly, the seashells made for a better back-and-forth.

Watch the clip above via MSNBC.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.