“The Daily Show” laid into the Department of Justice for indicting James Comey over an allegedly threatening seashell photo.
Host Josh Johnson weighed in on the controversy during Wednesday’s monologue, in which he quipped that the former FBI director simply “did the most retired old man thing ever.”
“He walked on a beach and took a picture of seashells and even posted on social media, like we wanted to see it too,” Johnson said before playing news footage about the indictment. Specifically, news coverage from “Good Morning America” explained that the DOJ indicted Comey over a since-deleted photo of seashells that spelled out “86-47,” taking it as a threat on the president’s life.
“That’s the threat? Are you sure he was acting alone?” Johnson sounded off. “Because as long as we’re indicting, I heard about a woman who sells seashells by the seashore. That’s suspicious as hell.”
He continued: “Seriously, how do you get from this post that James Comey wants to murder the president?”
At this moment, “The Daily Show” editors played footage of different talking heads suggesting that the term “86” was a “kill order” and that Trump is the 47th president of the United States.
“Just so you’re aware, this is probably not going to work in court. Because I know it’s scary to be indicted, but this is definitely going to get 86ed by a judge,” Johnson said. “And, in fact, if I could talk to the Department of Justice for just a second, I don’t even think you believe you. Because if you’re saying that those menacing seashells were a threat to the president, then why did it take you nearly a year to come after Comey?”
He added: “I thought the Secret Service on Saturday night was slow. I owe them an apology.”
As Johnson went on, he explained that the term “86” meant to get rid of something off a menu or to kick someone out of a place.
“It’s been understood to mean those things since the 1930s,” he noted. “It’s actually one of the last good slang terms that white people invented. Since then, it’s been nothing but ‘bazinga’ and ‘amazeballs’ and a few new slurs, mostly the slurs.”
Johnson then slammed the president, who he said felt “totally unencumbered to use the power of the Justice Department to go after people he doesn’t like.”
Watch his full monologue above.
“The Daily Show” airs weeknights at 11 p.m. on Comedy Central.
