Donald Trump claims a social media post from former FBI director James Comey called for the president’s assassination.
On Thursday, Comey posted a picture of sea shells in the shape of “86 47,” a reference to the 47th president and the term “86,” commonly used in bars and restaurants to cancel an order or toss someone out
“He knew exactly what that meant. A child knows what that meant,” Trump told Fox News host Bret Baier in an interview airing on Friday. “If you’re the FBI director and you don’t know what that meant, that meant ‘assassination.’ It says that loud and clear.”
The president called him a “dirty cop” and said he will leave a decision on whether to prosecute him over a social media post with Attorney General Pam Bondi.
On Instagram, Comey posted an image of the seashells with the caption “Cool shell formation on my beach walk.”
Homeland Security Kristi Noem called it a “threat” and announced DHS and the US Secret Service were investigating. Intelligence director Tulsi Gabbard called it “a veiled call to action to murder the president of the United States.”
“James Comey should be held accountable and put behind bars for this,” Gabbard told Fox News host Jesse Watters on Thursday.
Comey subsequently deleted the image and explained in a separate post that he posted a picture of “some shells I saw on a beach walk, which I assumed were a political message.”
“I didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence,” he wrote. “It never occurred to me but I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down.”
This is a developing story
