Former FBI Director James Comey hinted at a 2020 presidential run via Twitter before admitting it was an April Fool's Day joke.

Comey wrote: “I’m in. We need someone in the middle. #2020.” The tweet was accompanied by a photo of him standing in the middle of a country road staring off into the distance.



I’m in. We need someone in the middle. #2020 pic.twitter.com/IGt69bEQz1 — James Comey (@Comey) April 1, 2019



Comey, 58, oversaw the start of the investigation into allegations that President Trump colluded with Russia and was ultimately fired by the president in May 2017. Special counsel Robert Mueller was hired to investigate the claims, but according to a four-page summary from Attorney General William Barr, Mueller found no evidence of collusion or conspiracy.

He had been a registered Republican for most of his life but said in 2018 he could no longer “be associated” with the party. Last year, he came out as a committed Democrat, canvassing for Jennifer Wexton, the Democratic candidate who unseated Republican Rep. Barbara Comstock in Virginia's 10th Congressional District, where Comey lives.

Comey followed up with another tweet a little more than an hour later, adding: "But could you imagine a president who used this website to make dad jokes rather than to hurl insults? Happy #AprilFools. #VoteDem2020."

[ Also read: Harry Reid rips James Comey for doing 'nothing' about Russian election meddling]



But could you imagine a president who used this website to make dad jokes rather than to hurl insults? Happy #AprilFools. #VoteDem2020 — James Comey (@Comey) April 1, 2019



April Fool’s Day is a tradition dating back to the 16th century in which pranks and hoaxes are played on unsuspecting victims. In some countries, the jokes are supposed to end at noon on April 1 — a deadline Comey would have missed by three hours and 25 minutes — but the custom in the United States is that the jokes can be made all day.