President Donald Trump said that former FBI Director James Comey “knew exactly what he was doing” when he posted a photo of seashells on the beach arranged to make a message many took as a threat.
Comey posted on his Instagram account a photo of the message spelling “8647” but later deleted it and apologized after receiving massive backlash from critics online. He claimed that he did not intend to advocate for any violence.
‘Now, he wasn’t very competent, but he was competent enough to know what that meant, and he did it for a reason.’
The president responded in an interview with Bret Baier on Fox News that will air in its entirety on Friday.
“He knew exactly what that meant. A child knows what that meant. If you’re the FBI director and you don’t know what that meant? That meant assassination,” said Trump.
“And it says it loud and clear,” Trump added. “Now, he wasn’t very competent, but he was competent enough to know what that meant, and he did it for a reason. And he was hit so hard because people like me, and they like what’s happening with our country. Our country’s become respected again. And he’s calling for the assassination of the president.”
“Obviously, he apologized and said he wasn’t calling for violence,” Baier pointed out.
Related: Comey did Obama’s ‘dirty work,’ and Trump STILL came out on top
Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Trump went on to say that any prosecution Comey might face would be up to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi.
“I don’t want to take a position on it because it’s going to be up to Pam and all the great people,” the president continued.
“But I will say this: I think it’s a terrible thing. And when you add his history to that — if he had a clean history, he doesn’t. He’s a dirty cop. He’s a dirty cop. And if he had a clean history I could understand if there was a leniency, but I’m gonna let them make that decision.”
Comey’s defenders take him at his word that he did not intend to advocate for violence, but others say the threat was clear and that he should be prosecuted for the post. Some point out that it could have been a marketing ploy to gain attention ahead of his new book release in four days.
Merriam-Webster’s dictionary says the term “86” first appeared in the 1940s and referred to an item on a menu that had run out, but later came to mean getting rid of some item. Much more recent uses include the idea of killing a person.
According to Blaze Media senior politics editor Christopher Bedford, the term comes from a “little speakeasy called Chumley’s at 86 Bedford Street in Manhattan,” where it was used to warn customers about police during prohibition.
“I didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence. It never occurred to me but I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down,” wrote Comey.
Department of Homeland Security Sec. Kristi Noem and FBI Director Kash Patel said that they would be looking into the incident.
Here’s the video of Trump’s response:
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to add a quote from Christopher Bedford.
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