Former FBI Director James Comey tweeted a quote from Thomas Jefferson’s January 28, 1786, letter from Paris to physician James Currie related to freedom of press only several minutes after President Donald Trump attacked CNN on Twitter.
“Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost,” Comey tweeted along with a picture of the Capitol.
Even though the citing of a part of the 200-year old letter that Jefferson had written to the doctor who treated his daughter may seem random, the timing when Comey wrote the tweet suggests otherwise, The Washington Post reports. Comey wrote the tweet about a half an hour after the president attacked CNN International in the latest round of his war with the mainstream media.
“@FoxNews is MUCH more important in the United States than CNN, but outside of the U.S., CNN International is still a major source of (Fake) news, and they represent our Nation to the WORLD very poorly. The outside world does not see the truth from them!” Trump wrote on Twitter. Several minutes later, CNN’s public relations department wrote a reply.
“It’s not CNN’s job to represent the U.S. to the world. That’s yours. Our job is to report the news,” they replied.
Trump was also criticized by many for undermining the work of foreign correspondents in war zones. Speaking about Comey’s tweets, many think that they are more than simple quotations attached to random nature photos. To those who follow him on Twitter, his tweets are subtle jabs at political leaders. Two weeks ago Trump called Comey a proven liar and leaker and only a few minutes after that, Comey tweeted a sermon from the late English Baptist preacher Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
“If you want truth to go around the world you must hire an express train to pull it; but if you want a lie to go around the world, it will fly; it is light as a feather and a breath will carry it,” Comey wrote.
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