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President Donald Trump claimed that an Instagram post shared by former FBI director James Comey called for his "assassination."
Comey, who was fired by Trump during his first administration in 2017 and later leaked documents of his meetings with the president, shared a photo of what was described as a "shell formation" that formed the numbers "8647" in a since-deleted post, which was condemned by Trump administration officials, Republican lawmakers and other allies as "eighty-six" can informally mean "to get rid of" and 47 represents Trump's second of two non-consecutive presidential terms.
“He knew exactly what that meant. A child knows what that meant … That meant ‘assassination,’” Trump said in an interview with FOX News anchor Bret Baier scheduled to air Friday (May 16) evening via the New York Post.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem called the post a "threat" and confirmed that the DHS and Secret Service were investigating Comey, who wrote, "Cool shell formation on my beach walk" along with the post.
“He’s calling for the assassination of the president,” Trump said after the Comey received backlash for the Instagram post via the New York Post.
“He’s a dirty cop,” Trump added, noting that Comey's fate would ultimately be decided by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, but suggested that he has no leniency.
Comey deleted the post, claiming he was unaware of the message when he posted it.
“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 folks associate those numbers with violence,” Comey wrote in a followup Instagram post.
Trump was previously targeted in two assassination attempts during his 2024 campaign, which included gunshots being fired by Thomas Matthew Crooks, who was killed seconds later, during his Butler, Pennsylvania, rally last July and later being targeted by Ryan Wesley Routh, who was arrested near the president's private golf course in Florida last September.