The Republican National Committee (RNC) is sending a mascot — Lyin’ Lion Comey — to trail former FBI Director James Comey on his cross-country book tour.
The lion mascot’s mission was first reported Thursday by CNN, before the GOP itself appeared to confirm the news in a tweet.
The RNC later confirmed the effort in an email to The Hill.
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The mascot plan is the latest in an effort by the Republican Party to discredit the former FBI director, who embarked this week on a media blitz following the release of his memoir, “A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership.”
The book recounts Comey’s time as the nation’s top cop, including his experience with the investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s handling of classified information and his interactions with President Trump.
The book casts the president in a negative light. Comey paints the president as an unethical, self-interested leader, who is ultimately “untethered to truth.”
Ahead of the book’s release on Tuesday, the RNC launched a website, LyinComey.com, which seeks to portray the former FBI director as a dishonest political operative seeking to undermine Trump’s presidency.
Trump abruptly fired Comey in May, ostensibly for his handling of the investigation into Clinton’s use of a private email server during her tenure as secretary of State. He later acknowledged, however, that he took the FBI’s probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 election into consideration when he dismissed Comey.