OAN Staff Abril Elfi
8:56 AM – Friday, May 16, 2025
President Donald Trump has stated that he believes former FBI Director James Comey’s Instagram photo of seashells on a beach arranged to form the numbers “8647” was a call for his assassination.
During an interview with Bret Baier on Fox News on Friday, Trump said that he thinks Comey “knew exactly” what the message he had posted conveyed.
“He knew exactly what that meant. A child knows what that means. That meant ‘assassination,’ ”Trump said.
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On Thursday, Comey posted a picture on Instagram of seashells arranged to form the numbers “8647.”
“Cool shell formation on my beach walk,” Comey had captioned the photo.
The number “86” is colloquially associated with the act of removing or eliminating something or someone — such as when a patron is “86’d” from a bar or restaurant after being too intoxicated or rowdy.
Therefore, the phrase “86 47” appears to convey a coded message advocating for the removal of the 47th president.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said that the “threat” was being investigated by the DHS and the Secret Service.
“He’s calling for the assassination of the president,” Trump said. “He’s a dirty cop.”
The president added that Attorney General Pam Bondi will decide Comey’s fate, but that he thinks there should be no leniency.
Donald Trump Jr., the president’s son, wrote, “Just James Comey casually calling for my dad to be murdered. This is who the Dem-Media worships. Demented!!!!”
Comey has since deleted the post and has claimed that he was unaware that “some” could interpret the post as incitement to violence.
“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.”
Meanwhile, Comey has publicly expressed ongoing criticism of Trump, particularly after being dismissed from his position by him in 2017. In his book “A Higher Loyalty,” and in various interviews, Comey described Trump as morally unfit for office while condemning his leadership style.
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