Senator Comments On Comey's Social Media Post
The quiet lapping of ocean waves wasn’t enough to drown out the roar of political outrage that erupted after former FBI Director James Comey posted a now-deleted image to Instagram showing seashells arranged into the numbers “86” and “47.” What Comey casually dubbed a “cool shell formation” is now at the center of a Secret Service investigation, a storm of bipartisan condemnation, and renewed calls for accountability amid rising fears over political violence.
To the uninitiated, “86 47” might seem meaningless. But in political and pop-culture shorthand, the implications are anything but. “86” is a widely recognized code for getting rid of or eliminating someone—slang with dark undertones. Paired with “47”—the presidential number of Donald J. Trump—the meaning takes on a dangerous clarity: eliminate the 47th president.
Coming just months after Trump survived an assassination attempt that left one bystander dead, the timing of Comey’s post was not just tone-deaf—it was incendiary. As Rep. Tim Burchett bluntly put it: Comey should be arrested.
What if Trump had posted “8646” one year ago today?
They’d have tried—once again—to throw him in prison
Can anyone deny that?
— Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) May 16, 2025
Within hours of the post going live, condemnation poured in from all corners of the conservative political sphere. Donald Trump Jr. slammed the image as “Demented!!!!” Senator Marsha Blackburn asked pointedly whether Comey would like to explain himself “given the assassination attempts on President Trump.” Meghan McCain called it “beyond despicable.” The response from current FBI Director Kash Patel was swift: the Bureau is aware of the post and is coordinating with the Secret Service, which holds primary jurisdiction over threats to the president.
While Comey’s post was quickly scrubbed from Instagram, it didn’t disappear from public memory. His follow-up claimed ignorance: “I didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence.” But for someone who spent years at the top of the nation's premier law enforcement agency—an organization that routinely analyzes coded language, threats, and potential acts of political extremism—Comey’s explanation rings hollow to many.
As political strategist Greg Price pointed out, “Yes, I’m sure the guy who once ran the FBI was just clueless on this one.”
This isn't the first time coded language or satire has sparked investigations. In 2020, comedian John Mulaney’s joke about Julius Caesar and political assassination prompted an actual FBI inquiry. That a late-night comedy monologue could trigger a federal response raises serious questions about the precedent being set when a former FBI director appears to echo similar messaging—intentionally or not—on social media.
And this time, the context is far more serious. Trump has been the target of not one, but two assassination attempts. In today’s volatile political climate, language and symbols matter. The threat doesn’t need to be overt—it needs only to be interpreted by the wrong person as a green light.