High-profile members of the Democratic Party are spurning the endorsement of James Comey, the former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) fired by President Donald Trump.
Comey took to Twitter on Tuesday to denounce congressional Republicans for having "proven incapable" of holding Trump accountable. The former FBI director asserted that anyone believing "in this country's values must vote for Democrats" in the coming midterm elections.
"This Republican Congress has proven incapable of fulfilling the Founders’ design that 'Ambition must ... counteract ambition.' All who believe in this country’s values must vote for Democrats this fall," Comey tweeted. "Policy differences don’t matter right now. History has its eyes on us."
This Republican Congress has proven incapable of fulfilling the Founders’ design that 'Ambition must ... counteract ambition." All who believe in this country’s values must vote for Democrats this fall. Policy differences don’t matter right now. History has its eyes on us.
— James Comey (@Comey) July 18, 2018
The endorsement, however, was not enough to bridge the animosity Comey encumbered from the left for his handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server as secretary of state. Democrats have particularly taken ire with his decision to re-open the investigation, as a result of evidence that came to light in the prosecution of former Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner (N.Y.), so close to election day.
The narrative, fed in part by Clinton herself, that Comey was to blame for dashing the Democratic Party's hopes, was on display in the response the former FBI director's endorsement spawned.
Brian Fallon, who served as the national press secretary for Hillary Clinton's failed 2016 presidential campaign, summed up the pervading sentiment on the left when he took to social media to declare Democrats "don't want [Comey's] endorsement."
"Democrats don't want your endorsement, but thanks," Fallon tweeted.
Democrats don't want your endorsement, but thanks.https://t.co/1BVei3GbUC
— Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) July 18, 2018
Fallon, as the Washington Free Beacon previously reported, is currently the executive director of a special interest group leading the charge against Trump's "takeover" of the federal judiciary.
Others on the left were equally harsh in rebuffing Comey.
https://twitter.com/Zac_Petkanas/status/1019414137758273536
Yes, history has its eyes on us and you will be judged as a man who broke with protocol to wrongfully attack the first female candidate for president against the advice of your boss.
— Nell Scovell (@NellSco) July 18, 2018
Comey’s instincts are dead wrong every time. Bucks DOJ norms to intervene inappropriately in an election, then further politicizes his firing by endorsing the President’s partisan opponents. Stay out of it! https://t.co/MGTkkrrmHi
— Brendan Nyhan (@BrendanNyhan) July 18, 2018
Dan Pfeiffer, a former senior adviser and White House communications director for President Barack Obama, was especially dismissive of the endorsement.
Comey is high on the list of people that I don’t want to hear from today https://t.co/aAThSRQKVd
— Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) July 16, 2018
Comey's tweet came one day after Trump's summit in Helsinki, Finland with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The summit sparked controversy after Trump appeared to legitimize Russia's insistence that it did not meddle in the 2016 U.S. elections.