A disturbing social media post from former FBI director and longtime Trump critic James Comey has set off a firestorm.
As reported on Friday’s AM Update, Comey seemingly took aim at the president – who has survived two known assassination attempts – when he posted and then delated a bizarre photo to his Instagram account on Thursday.
Comey’s Post
The image in question showed seashells on a sandy beach arranged to resemble the numbers “86 47.” He captioned the post, “Cool shell formation on my beach walk.”
In gang slang, “eighty-six” means to get rid of or kill someone. Naturally, the number “47” was seen a reference to Trump, who is the forty-seventh president of the United States. Donald Trump Jr. accused Comey of “casually calling for my dad to be murdered” in a post on X. “This is who the Dem-Media worships,” he added. “Demented!!!!”
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich struck a similar tone. “While President Trump is currently on an international trip to the Middle East, the former FBI Director puts out what can clearly be interpreted as ‘a hit’ on the sitting President of the United States—a message etched in the sand,” he wrote on X. “This is deeply concerning to all of us and is being taken seriously.”
Comey Backtracks
About three hours later, Comey deleted the offending post and replaced it with an apology of sorts:
“I posted earlier a picture of some shells I saw on a beach walk, which I assumed were a political message,” he wrote. “I didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence. It never occurred to me but I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down.”
Those who have tried to defend Comey said “eighty-six” is nothing more than restaurant slang for canceling something or getting rid of something. “Yeah, that too implies murder,” Megyn noted on AM Update. In any event, the former FBI director would certainly be expected to be aware of commonly known gang terminology and the elevated threat environment surrounding Trump.
Trump Reacts
Current FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed that he agency was aware of Comey’s post, writing on X that his team has been “in communication with the Secret Service,” who has primary jurisdiction in the matter, to offer support.
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said the “threat” is being investigated by the Secret Service, which is part of DHS. “We are aware of the social media posts by the former FBI director and we take rhetoric like this very seriously,” Anthony Guglielmi, the agency’s chief of communications said in a statement. “Beyond that, we do not comment on protective intelligence matters.”
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard did not mince words when she discussed the incident with Jesse Watters on Fox News Thursday night. “Any other person with the position of influence that he has – people who take very seriously what a guy of his stature, his experience and what the propaganda media has built him up to be – I’m very concerned for the president’s life,” she said. “We’ve already seen assassination attempts… James Comey, in my view, should be held accountable and put behind bars for this.
Speaking to Bret Baier Friday, the president weighed in himself, calling Comey a “dirty cop” and refuting the idea he did not know what “eighty-six” means. “He knew exactly what that meant. A child knows what that meant,” Trump said in an interview with Bret Baier on Friday. “That meant ‘assassination.’ It says it loud and clear.”
Trump said Comey’s fate will ultimately be decided by Attorney General Pam Bondi, but he does not believe there should be leniency given Comey’s “history.”
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