A CNN analyst scorched Tulsi Gabbard for suggesting James Comey be jailed for a cryptic Instagram post the former FBI director made about Donald Trump, interpreted by some as a call for violence.
“That’s ridiculous,” Elie Honig told host Kaitlan Collins of Gabbard’s comments on CNN’s The Source on Thursday. “I mean, look, I am no fan of Jim Comey’s. I’ve been very critical of a lot of the things he’s done. I think posting this was extremely reckless, to use a phrase that he once used, and stupid. He has acknowledged that. He took it down. He said, ‘I should not have posted this.’”
Comey ruffled a few feathers after he posted a cryptic photo of seashells formed to read “86 47” on Thursday.
“Cool shell formation on my beach walk,” he captioned the post, which ignited a firestorm among White House officials and allies of the president, some of whom have claimed that it was a call for Trump’s assassination.
Comey was fired by Trump in his first term.
The number “86” is restaurant slang that means to “get rid of” something or someone, which, when paired with “47,” led to accusations that Comey was subtly endorsing violence against Trump.
Comey rushed to delete the post and denied allegations that it was a call for violence. But that didn’t stop Gabbard, Trump’s director of national intelligence, from fanning the flames during an appearance on Fox News’ Jesse Watters Primetime.
Comey should be “held accountable” and “put behind bars” for allegedly “issuing a call to assassinate [Trump]” in the post, Gabbard said.
Honig didn’t hold back as he blasted Gabbard’s take in a furious on-air tirade.
“This is not criminal,” said Honig. “This is not a criminally chargeable threat against the president. It’s political speech. It’s way too broad. It’s stupid, it’s reckless. It’s not criminal. That’s just hyperbole that you’re hearing from the Cabinet members there.”
The Trump administration is investigating Comey over the Instagram post. Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, said the “D.H.S. and Secret Service is investigating this threat and will respond appropriately.”
“This is deeply concerning to all of us and is being taken seriously,” Taylor Budowich, White House deputy chief of staff, said in a post on X.
“American leadership has been restored and peace is on the horizon,” Budowich added in another post. “This has left the Deep State desperate and dangerous—Comey is only the latest and most disturbing example of them lashing out through threats of violence.”
Comey said he “didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence.”
“It never occurred to me but l oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down,” he added in a follow-up post.
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