Image from an attack ad funded by the pro-Trump group Great America Alliance that will air during former FBI Director James Comey’s testimony (Screenshot/YouTube)
Former FBI Director James Comey will testify in an open session at the US Senate tomorrow. And every single news network plans to air the hearing live. But viewers may notice a strange ad during breaks in the testimony. A shady pro-Tump nonprofit plans to run an ad attacking Comey. And it was just posted online.
Comey was fired by President Trump because he was investigating the Trump regime’s ties to Russia. The president even admitted as much in an interview with NBC News. But that hasn’t made Comey go away. In fact, people are more interested than ever in what he has to say. Which is why an organization called the Great America Alliance is releasing an ad that calls into question Comey’s integrity and competence.
The ad has been uploaded to YouTube and is expected to debut on digital platforms today and air on traditional TV during Comey’s testimony tomorrow. The 30-second spot accuses Comey of being a “showboat” and says he was more concerned with political correctness than with fighting terrorism.
The ad includes insulting messages plastered over Comey’s FBI portrait, including “James Comey: Politics Over Protecting America” and “Comey: Another DC Insider.”
The Great America Alliance is chaired by Trump political allies Newt Gingrich and Rudolph Giuliani. And just a few weeks ago the group, formerly known as the Great America PAC, hired controversial conservative media star Tomi Lahren as a spokesperson. The organization is explicit in its goal of advancing the Trump regime’s narrative, but doesn’t have to disclose where its funding comes from.
“The liberal establishment and mainstream media continue to fight our President at every turn, so it’s critical for all Americans to step up and do all they can to advance the America First agenda,” said Lahren in a statement when she was hired last month.
GIF Some of the claims in the short ad don’t seem to make much sense when you take a second to think about them logically. For instance the ad says, “After the FBI banned terms like ‘radical Islam’ for political correctness, Comey allowed the dangerous practice to continue.”
The dangerous practice of not using the term radical Islam? Apparently someone should let President Trump know that not saying the term is in and of itself dangerous, since he refused to do so during his recent speech in Saudi Arabia.
As the Associated Press reports, the White House is “scrambling” to find ways to discredit Comey, whose testimony is expected to contradict major falsehoods peddled by the president. One of those lies was that Comey assured Trump on three separate occasions that he wasn’t under investigation. The president bizarrely included that claim in his letter firing Director Comey.
A new poll out this morning from ABC News shows that 61 percent of Americans believe Trump fired Comey to protect himself. Again, back on May 11, 2017 in an interview with Lester Holt from NBC News, Trump admitted that he fired Comey over the Russia investigation. So the fact that it’s only 61 percent shows you just how partisan our country is, with Trump backers willing to ignore the president’s own statements and live in a fantasy.
We can expect plenty more attacks on Comey beyond this ad in the days ahead. President Trump is even expected to live-tweet at least some of the hearing tomorrow, for which it’s difficult to find a historical parallel. Nixon certainly didn’t give live commentary during the Watergate hearings. So who knows what fresh horrors await the American public on Thursday.
I guess we all get to tune in at 10am Eastern, 7am Pacific time to find out.