Former FBI Director James Comey is under investigation by the Secret Service after posting a picture of seashells spelling out “8647” on Instagram — which conservatives claim is a secret call for President Donald Trump’s assassination.
On Thursday, Comey posted an image to his social media of a “cool shell formation” he found during a walk on the beach. The first half of the shell formation spelled out “86,” ostensibly a reference to common hospitality slang. The second half, “47,” was seemingly a reference to Trump, the 47th president.
To “86” something is an extremely common parlance in the restaurant and bar industry. When the manager asks security to “86” the man yelling at the bartender, they don’t mean that they should take him out back and kill him, only that the person should be ejected from the bar. Similarly, if a chef tells a server to “86 the special” they mean that the server should let other staff know that the dish is no longer on offer.
Trump, top officials in his administration, Republican lawmakers, and MAGA commentators on social media took the post as a cold call to murder the president.
In a clip released by Fox News on Friday, Trump told host Bret Baier that Comey knew “exactly what that meant” and that “a child knows what that meant […] that meant assassination, and it says it loud and clear.”
“Our country has become respected again and all this, and he’s calling for the assassination of the president,” Trump continued, adding that “if he had a clean history, I could, I could understand if there was a leniency,” but in his view Comey was a “dirty cop.”
Trump’s allies quickly seized on Comey’s post on Thursday, with Donald Trump Jr. writing that Comey was “casually calling for my dad to be murdered.”
“Disgraced former FBI Director James Comey just called for the assassination of @POTUS Trump,” Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote on X. “DHS and Secret Service is investigating this threat and will respond appropriately.”
Current FBI director Kash Patel wrote that the bureau was “aware of the recent social media post by former FBI Director James Comey, directed at President Trump.” He added: “We are in communication with the Secret Service and Director Curran. Primary jurisdiction is with SS on these matters and we, the FBI, will provide all necessary support.”
Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s Director of National Intelligence, even told Fox News that Comey should be in jail. “James Comey in my view should be held accountable and put behind bars for this,” she said.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) wrote: “President Trump has already survived TWO assassination attempts. Now, former disgraced FBI director James Comey is either threatening to kill Donald Trump or suggesting someone should. This is as outrageous as it is dangerous.”
Comey responded to the backlash by deleting the post, which he said he assumed were a “political message.”
“I didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence,” he continued. “It never occurred to me but I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down.”
It wasn’t enough for his critics. It’s also not the first time Trump’s allies have claimed the term “86” was a call for his murder. In 2020, prominent lawmakers and influencers accused Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer of calling for the president’s murder after she displayed an “8645” pin during a televised interview.
Several prominent Republican influencers and even former lawmakers have some posts they would theoretically need to explain to law enforcement themselves. Last year, former Rep. Matt Gaetz wrote on X that he and MAGA Republicans had successfully “86’d” Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Former Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel, and Former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell from the GOP.”
Last we checked all three of those individuals were very much alive and un-murdered.
In a 2020 post, Pizzagate influencer Jack Posobiec wrote “8647” — a reference to President Joe Biden — on social media. In response to Comey’s post on Thursday, Posobiec wrote: “The fmr director of the FBI is calling for left-wing assassins to target our president and kill him. Have no idea why he hasn’t been arrested yet.”
If that’s how he really feels, Posobiec is welcome to print out his tweets about Biden and self-surrender at the nearest convenient FBI office.
