‘Morning Joe’ co-host says James Comey did ‘stupid thing’ by posting alleged Trump assassination threat

“Morning Joe” co-host Jonathan Lemire said Friday that former FBI Director James Comey did a “stupid thing” by uploading a photograph depicting the numbers “8647” in a now-deleted Instagram post.

Comey uploaded the photograph stating that he found a “cool shell formation” during his walk on the beach, prompting Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, FBI Director Kash Patel and other top Trump administration officials to launch an investigation into Comey to rule out whether he called to assassinate President Donald Trump. Lemire said that while Comey took the post down and apologized, he has “provided” Trump supporters with “a convenient target.”

“This was a stupid thing that [Comey] did, clearly,” Lemire said. “I think there’s certainly a lot of faux outrage here. But to be fair, if it had gone the other way, and somebody had posted 8646 about [former] President [Joe] Biden, there would be some on the left who would be angry as well. We heard from the FBI Director Kash Patel that they’re gonna be investigating it, you already read a few number of Trump officials that they would as well. It’s hard to know whether or not there will be a there there, I mean, Comey took the post down immediately, he apologized.”

“But this is certainly for those in MAGA sphere who want to talk about something else, who want to be angry about something, James Comey provided a convenient target for them right now,” Lemire continued.

WATCH:

Lemire also noted that Comey promoted his new book on social media after drawing attention from the now-deleted Instagram post.

Republicans said the “86” is commonly a code for “get rid of” or “throw out,” sparking major concern about a potential assassination attempt on Trump.

After taking the post down, Comey said in a separate Instagram post that he did not realize that some people associated the “86” with “violence of any kind.”

“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 of any kind so I took the post down,” Comey wrote.

Trump already faced two assassination attempts on his life during his 2024 presidential candidacy. His rally held on July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania, came to a rapid end after 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks grazed his ear with a bullet, and a second would-be assassin named Ryan Routh made an attempt on Trump’s life at his Florida golf course in September.

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