President Trump condemned James Comey in strong terms on Friday, accusing the ex-FBI director of deliberately sharing an Instagram image that, in his view, suggested a call for Trump’s murder.
“He knew exactly what that meant. A child knows what that meant … That meant ‘assassination,’” Trump told Bret Baier during an interview, referring to the now-deleted image.
Comey had uploaded a photo of seashells carefully arranged to form the numbers “86 47.” To many, this seemed like a veiled reference to eliminating the 47th president, as “86” is often slang for getting rid of someone.
According to one entry in Webster’s Dictionary, “eighty-six” is defined as a way to express the act of discarding or eliminating something. In the hospitality world, the expression is commonly used to signify that an item is unavailable or that a customer has been banned from the premises.
Comey captioned the photo innocently: “Cool shell formation on my beach walk,” offering no further context at the time.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed that the incident was being reviewed seriously, stating that both the DHS and Secret Service had launched an investigation into the potential threat.
“He’s calling for the assassination of the president,” Trump declared after the post attracted widespread attention from his supporters and officials.
“He’s a dirty cop,” Trump added, describing Comey with disdain. He noted that Attorney General Pam Bondi would ultimately handle the matter but emphasized his belief that there should be no leniency.
“This is deeply concerning to all of us and is being taken seriously,” wrote Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich on X.
Donald Trump Jr. also weighed in, posting: “Just James Comey casually calling for my dad to be murdered. This is who the Dem-Media worships. Demented!!!!”
Comey later removed the image from his Instagram account and offered a public explanation, claiming ignorance about the numbers’ violent implications.
“I posted earlier a picture of some shells I saw today on a beach walk, which I assumed were a political message. I didn’t realize folks associate those numbers with violence,” Comey wrote.
“It never occurred to me but I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down.”
This episode comes on the heels of two known assassination attempts against the president in 2024. The first occurred during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, when a 20-year-old named Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire, narrowly missing Trump’s head and grazing his ear.
A second incident took place months later at the president’s golf course in Palm Beach. There, 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh reportedly hid for over 12 hours in nearby foliage, armed and waiting for a chance to strike. He fled after Secret Service agents discharged their weapons at him. Routh was later captured and is currently awaiting trial in Florida.
{Matzav.com}