Comey doubles down on his ‘86 47’ post aimed at Trump

Former FBI Director James Comey says “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 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.” MATT MCCLAIN/WASHINGTON POST FILE

Former FBI Director James Comey has refused to express “regret” for his decision to share a critical social media post aimed at President Donald Trump.

The now-deleted post, shared on Instagram, showed seashells on a beach arranged to spell out the numbers “86 47.” The number 86 is used by service workers to call for the removal of something while 47 represents Trump as 47th president of the United States.

Some interpreted the post as a call for violence, though Comey later clarified the message was not intended as a threat.

“I posted earlier a picture of some shells I saw today on a beach walk, which I assumed were a political message,” he wrote. “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.”

In an appearance on MSNBC, Comey said he did not regret posting the controversial image.

“I posted it on my Instagram account and thought nothing more of it until I heard through (my wife) that people were saying it was some sort of a call for assassination, which is crazy, but I took it down,” he said on Monday. “I regret the distraction and the controversy around it but again, it’s hard to have regret about something that even in hindsight, looks to me to be totally innocent.”

Trump said Comey knew “exactly” what he was doing when he shared a social media post.

“A child knows what that meant,” Trump said May 16 in an interview on Fox News. “That meant assassination. He wasn’t very competent, but he was competent enough to know what that meant. And he did it for a reason.”

The Department of Homeland Security and the Secret Service have launched investigations into Comey after the post. Several Republican lawmakers also expressed outrage over the image.

“Is there any other reasonable explanation for this post other than that the former head of the FBI is publicly calling for the murder of the President of the United States?” Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, asked on X.

“President Trump has already survived TWO assassination attempts,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said. “Now, former disgraced FBI Director James Comey is either threatening to kill Donald Trump or suggesting someone should. This is as outrageous as it is dangerous.”

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