On Instagram, Mr. Comey, who oversaw the FBI from 2013 until being fired by Mr. Trump in 2017, posted a picture of seashells that seemed to form the numbers 86 47.
The US Secret Service has conducted an interview with a former director of the FBI regarding a social media post that Republicans claim called for violence against President Donald Trump.
James Comey, who oversaw the FBI from 2013 until being fired by President Trump in 2017, posted a picture of seashells that seemed to form the letters “86 47” during his first term in office.
The Instagram picture was captioned, “Cool shell formation on my beach walk.”
The post has been read as a threat by some, who claim that 86 47 intends to assassinate Mr. Trump and other violently remove him from office.
What is meant by ’86 47′?
In the United States, 86 can be used as a verb. “To throw somebody out of a bar for being drunk or disorderly” is the common meaning.
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the term has recently come to mean “to kill.” The dictionary stated that this meaning of 86 has not been adopted “due to its relative recency and sparseness of use.”
Matt Gaetz, who was President Donald Trump’s choice for attorney general but withdrew from consideration after a string of sexual misconduct accusations, is the only other political figure to use the number.
“We’ve now 86’d…” Mr. Gaetz wrote, listing political rivals with whom he had a falling out who later resigned.
In the meantime, 47 is purportedly standing for Mr. Trump, the 47th president of the United States.
Later on, Mr. Comey took down the post, claiming that the numbers “were a political message” and that he was unaware that the arrangement of numbers could be linked to violence.
“I had no idea that some people connected those figures to violence. I never thought of it, but I’m against all forms of violence, so I removed the post,” Mr. Comey said.
The former FBI director’s explanation was rejected by Mr. Trump, who told Fox News: “He understood exactly what that meant.” A child understands that it meant assassination.
Mr. Comey was accused by Donald Trump Jr. of “casually calling for my dad to be murdered”
Just James Comey causally calling for my dad to be murdered.
This is who the Dem-Media worships. Demented!!!! pic.twitter.com/4LUK6crHAT
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) May 15, 2025
While acknowledging in a post on X that Mr. Comey had been interviewed as part of “an ongoing investigation,” US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem made no mention of whether he might be subject to additional action.
The Department of Homeland Security includes the Secret Service.
“What can clearly be interpreted as a hit on the sitting president of the United States” is what Mr. Comey said, according to White House deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich.
Mr. Budowich posted on X, “This is deeply concerning to all of us and is being taken seriously.”
The post was described as a “Clarion Call (…) to terrorists & hostile regimes to kill the President of the United States as he travels in the Middle East” by James Blair, another White House official.
