Former FBI Director James Comey is under fire from conservatives for a social media post that Trump supporters have interpreted as a call to kill the president.
Comey’s post has even caught the attention of the White House, which has implied that the former head of the FBI is being investigated over the issue.
What Comey’s photo said and how it was interpreted
In a now-deleted post on Instagram, Comey posted a close-up picture of what appears to be a portion of a sandy beach with seashells arranged as the numbers “86 47” with the caption “cool shell formation on my beach walk.” Conservative figures were quick to pounce on the post. Controversial Trump associate Laura Loomer claimed, “This is a call for the assassination of President Trump by the former FBI Director!”
Donald Trump Jr. similarly responded, “Just James Comey causally calling for my dad to be murdered.”
The fallout from the post continues
Comey, who, as FBI director, led the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s email scandal during the 2016 presidential campaign that Donald Trump narrowly won, has since deleted the post. According to NBC News, acknowledging that he assumed the numbers were a “political message” when he found them on the beach, Comey said, “I didn’t realize some folks associate it with violence. That didn’t occur to me when I saw it but I am opposed to violence in all circumstances so I took it down.”
Despite Comey removing the post and his explanation for sharing it on social media, the Trump administration has taken note of the issue. Trump weighed in on the controversy Thursday on Fox News, saying of the post, “That meant assassination. … He’s calling for the assassination of the president.”
Meanwhile, FBI Director Kash Patel stated his office was “in communication with the Secret Service,” which has “primary jurisdiction” in this situation.
What does ’86’ mean, and does it matter?
Merriam-Webster defines the term “86” as an informal verb with several related meanings, such as “to refuse to serve (a customer)” or “to eject, dismiss, or remove (someone).” The dictionary’s website gives examples of the term being used, such as the quote, “Democratic leaders also eighty-sixed a similar amendment introduced in the House version of the bill…,” drawn from a 2020 article by Dell Cameron about legislation to regulate how the government gathers information about citizens. None of the definitions point to killing someone. However, news reports have noted the following qualification from Merriam-Webster concerning the term: “Among the most recent senses adopted is a logical extension of the previous ones, with the meaning of ‘to kill.’ We do not enter this sense, due to its relative recency and sparseness of use.”
The group Republicans Against Trump posted, “Comey’s post is not a call to violence—nowhere close,” but predicted the administration would use it “as a pretext to crack down on free speech and dissent against their corrupt rule.”
Regardless of Comey’s intentions, it is clear that many Trump supporters are adamant about interpreting Comey’s post most extremely. Given that the Trump administration has targeted a variety of political foes since taking office in January, Comey may be looking at further scrutiny and repercussions for his post.
