Donald Trump is accusing former FBI Director James Comey of calling for his assassination.
In an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier, Trump pointed to a now-deleted Instagram post from Comey that showed seashells arranged to read “8647.” Many of Trump’s supporters said the numbers were a coded message — urging someone to “86” the 47th president. In slang, “86” means to get rid of, or kill.
“He knew exactly what that meant. A child knows what that meant,” Trump said. “If you’re the FBI director and you don’t know what that meant — that meant assassination. And it says it loud and clear.”
Trump said Comey did it on purpose: “Now, he wasn’t very competent, but he was competent enough to know what that meant. And he did it for a reason.”
Trump added, “He’s calling for the assassination of the president.”
Comey later apologized and said he didn’t mean to suggest violence. Baier brought that up, but Trump dismissed it: “Well, he apologized because he was hit.”
When asked what should happen next, Trump said it’s up to Attorney General Pam Bondi.
“I don’t want to take a position on it, because that’s going to be up to Pam and all of the great people. But I will say this, I think it’s a terrible thing,” Trump said. “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,” Trump repeated.
Comey and Trump have a long, bitter history. Trump fired him in 2017. Since then, Comey has backed Democratic candidates and publicly criticized Trump.
Other Trump allies are also weighing in. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard both said Comey’s post was a call for Trump’s “assassination.”
Comey has not responded further.
