Ex-FBI Director James Comey, a vocal critic of former President Donald Trump, was asked in a new interview that aired Sunday about his thoughts on the 2024 presidential election.
‘It has to be Joe Biden,’ Comey said in response to a question from Biden’s former White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, during an interview for her show on MSNBC.
‘And I’m glad he’s willing to serve. It has to be somebody committed to the rule of law, committed to the values of this country,’ he continued. ‘And I’m not talking about policy. People can disagree about policy. There are things above those disagreements that all of us should think about the same way. The president must be someone who abides the law and our Constitution. And there’s no one else but Joe Biden.’
Noting that Comey was once a longtime Republican but voted for Biden in 2020, Psaki asked if he’d consider any of the Republican contenders entering the 2024 race.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., recently formally announced their presidential candidacies, while former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy were already in the race.
Comey, who was fired by Trump in 2017 while leading the FBI’s investigation of alleged Russian collusion with Trump’s campaign, claimed in the interview that if Trump returns to the White House there would be ‘four years of a retribution presidency.’
‘He could order the prosecution of individuals who he sees as enemies. I’m sure I’m on the enemies list,’ Comey alleged. ‘Because the president constitutionally does oversee the executive branch entirely, which includes the Department of Justice, prosecutors and investigators. And so he could commission, direct that individuals be pursued. He could also direct all types of other conduct that people would maybe take to court to try to stop – but who enforces court orders?’
‘Mostly the United States Marshals Service, which is part of the executive branch and reports to the president. And so President Trump could say, ‘I don’t care what the Supreme Court says or these district judges say, I’m telling the Marshals Service don’t enforce the court order.’ And so our Constitution really does give a rogue president, which is what this would be, tremendous power to destroy.’
‘People criticize CNN for their town hall. I want the American people to stare at the threat that we’re facing and understand that they cannot take the next election off,’ he said.
Psaki noted that during the CNN town hall, Trump would not commit to seeing that Ukraine win the war against Russia.
‘Should we expect Russia to interfere on his behalf in 2024?’ Psaki asked Comey.
‘Yes, of course,’ Comey said. ‘Vladmir Putin does not want Joe Biden to be president of the United States for reasons that I hope the American people see because he acts in our national interests. He would very much like Donald Trump to be president again because Donald Trump – for reasons I still can’t explain – very, very fond of Vladmir Putin. And so they will find ways to interfere. I hope our intelligence community is equipped to respond maybe better than we did in 2016. But they’ll come for this election.’