James Comer draws flak for comparing Joe Biden to Richard Nixon over special counsel tapes

WASHINGTON, DC: House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer sparked widespread outrage and mockery this week with inflammatory remarks comparing President Joe Biden's handling of the special counsel audio tapes to former President Richard Nixon's actions during the Watergate scandal, as reported by The Hill.

In a controversial appearance on Newsmax's 'Wake Up America' show on Tuesday, May 21, the Kentucky Republican claimed there was "no difference" between Biden blocking the release of recordings from his interview with special counsel Robert Hur and Nixon "trying to hide his audio tapes" relating to the Watergate break-in and cover-up in the 1970s.

James Comer describes a two-year investigation into Joe Biden as a 'race against the clock'

Comer argued that Biden had "exhausted his executive privilege" by allowing the transcripts of his interview to be released, claiming that executive privilege would not hold up in court. He noted that legal advisors had consistently supported this view throughout the investigation, which faced numerous obstacles and obstructions from the Department of Justice (DOJ).

"We don't believe that executive privilege would hold up in court, and [neither do] the attorneys that have advised us correctly throughout this whole investigation where we faced obstacle and obstruction from the Department of Justice," Comer stated on Newsmax. "Joe Biden has always said one thing and turned around and done the other."

The controversy emerged last week when Biden invoked executive privilege to withhold the audio of his interview, amid Republican efforts to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress. Comer asserted that not only did his committee demand the tapes, but also "almost every major mainstream media network."

"This should be something that should be readily available," Comer emphasized.

"The other reason we want these audiotapes is the transcript was written by the Department of Justice. I can't tell you the number of times that people in the Department of Justice, people in the FBI, people in the IRS have not been truthful with our committee throughout this whole investigation. ... The audiotapes would prove whether or not the transcript is right," he added.

With the presidential election approaching, Comer expressed frustration over the two-year investigation into Biden, describing it as "a race against the clock."

He accused the Biden administration of employing stalling tactics to obscure alleged corruption, hoping for a Democratic takeover of the House to bury the investigation.

"The Biden strategy to cover up all of their corruption has been to stall, obstruct, do whatever they could to run out the clock and hope that by some miracle, the Democrats flipped the House," Comer said. "At which point, the party would regain control of the Oversight Committee and bury the investigation."

Comer also mentioned special counsel Hur's frustration, which led him to include statements in his report about Biden's mental abilities. The transcript of Biden's interview with Hur, conducted over two days in October of 2023, was made available to House Republicans in March shortly before Hur's public testimony.

James Comer's remarks comparing Biden to Richard Nixon over tapes spark swift backlash

Comer's remarks comparing Biden to Nixon over the tapes sparked swift backlash and mockery across social media platforms.

"Comer is just peddling the kind of gaslighting that has become orthodoxy among Republicans..," one Facebook user commented, while another remarked, "Well that's a total stretch of the truth. But that is how they roll now. Lies and hyperbole. November can't come soon enough."

A user wrote, "Just when you thought Comer couldn't outdo himself with stupidity, the sun rises..." Another quipped, "This Chairman is such a joke. The end of his chairmanship can't come soon enough."

"This man is an embarrassment...every time he opens his mouth he inserts his foot," a user stated.

Another user added, "This guy keeps proving the world with his moronic statements he is an idiot in a league of his own." [sic]

One commenter bluntly stated, "Comer has less than zero credibility," while another suggested, "Comer has definitely been hit in the head way too many times."

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