Former FBI Director James Comey got in a jab at President Donald Trump on Saturday while competing on NPR’s popular news quiz show “Wait Wait... Don’t Tell Me.”
When Comey picked a wrong answer on a multiple-choice question, he quipped that he meant to say he wouldn’t choose that answer. Huge applause.
That was a dig at Trump’s statement Tuesday in which he claimed to clarify comments he made after his summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Trump insisted he “misspoke” when he said he saw no reason why Russia “would” interfere in the U.S. presidential election. He said he intended to say “wouldn’t” interfere.
Comey didn’t get off the hook completely.
“Wait a minute, we have decided to re-open this game,” joked host Peter Sagal. That was a reference to Comey’s decision to re-open the FBI’s investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails just days before the 2016 election.
Comey also again recounted the time he got the presidential hug he desperately tried to avoid after Trump’s inauguration. Comey said he “didn’t want a photo-op with the president” so he stood as far away from the president as possible in the room where Trump was greeting leaders of the various federal law enforcement agencies.
But Trump called him over. “There’s no way the man’s getting a hug from me,” Comey recalled thinking. But Trump “grabbed my hand and he pulled in and down,” Comey said. That resulted in an awkward movement, “so instead of a hug, the world saw a kiss.”
On Tuesday, Comey, a longtime Republican, urged Americans to vote for Democrats in November. “All who believe in this country’s values must vote for Democrats this fall,” he tweeted.
Check out Comey’s entire “Wait Wait... Don’t Tell Me” clip above.
