James Comey endorsed Joe Biden for president on Tuesday, but a campaign official for the former vice president appeared to reject the former FBI director’s support.
“We need candidate who cares about all Americans and will restore decency, dignity to the office. There is a reason Trump fears @joebiden and roots for Bernie,” Comey tweeted, along with a “Biden2020” hashtag.
Voted in first Dem primary to support party dedicated to restoring values in WH. I agree with @amyklobuchar: We need candidate who cares about all Americans and will restore decency, dignity to the office. There is a reason Trump fears @joebiden and roots for Bernie. #Biden2020
— James Comey (@Comey) March 3, 2020
Andrew Bates, the rapid response director for Biden’s campaign, rebuffed Comey’s support on Twitter on Monday, before walking back his comments hours later.
Yes, customer service? I just received a package that I very much did not order. How can I return it, free of charge? https://t.co/NK4VrYGzT1
— Andrew Bates (@AndrewBatesNC) March 3, 2020
He said in a follow-up tweet that his remarks were “a lighthearted joke” and “not a rejection” of Comey’s endorsement.
“We appreciate the vote of anyone repelled by Donald Trump,” Bates wrote.
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. It was meant to be a lighthearted joke – not a rejection. We appreciate the vote of anyone repelled by Donald Trump.
— Andrew Bates (@AndrewBatesNC) March 3, 2020
Some Democrats have blamed Comey for Hillary Clinton’s loss to Trump in 2016. In late October 2016, Comey reopened an investigation into Clinton’s private email server after the FBI discovered emails on the laptop of Anthony Weiner, the husband of Clinton aide Huma Abedin.
Comey had announced the end of the FBI’s investigation of Clinton on July 5, 2016. He shut down the investigation of Weiner’s laptop days before the vote in the general election, saying that investigators found no evidence from the computer that Clinton mishandled classified information.
Clinton and many of her supporters have argued that Comey’s decision to reopen the investigation hurt her at the polls.
President Trump has recently asserted that the Democratic party is stacking the deck against Sanders, a democratic socialist. (RELATED: Joe Biden Touts Opposition To School Vouchers, Despite Sending Sons To Posh Private School)
Comey, who initially supported Sen. Amy Klobuchar, is the latest in a flurry of high-profile endorsements for Biden following the former vice president’s landslide win in the South Carolina primary on Saturday. Biden received 48.4 percent of the vote in South Carolina, while Sanders finished in second place with 19.9 percent.
On Monday, former 2020 Democratic candidates Pete Buttigieg and Klobuchar announced endorsements for Biden at a rally in Texas. Former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke, who shut down his campaign on Nov. 1, also endorsed Biden on Monday and appeared alongside him at another Texas rally.
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