Trump reacts to James Comey’s ‘8647’ post

President Donald Trump condemned former FBI Director James Comey on Fox News Friday over a now-deleted Instagram post that featured the number “8647” written in seashells—language widely interpreted by critics as a veiled assassination reference targeting the 47th President.

Comey deleted an Instagram post showing “8647” written in shells after Republicans accused him of subtly promoting a threat against Trump using coded language. During an interview on “Special Report with Bret Baier,” Trump said Comey knew exactly what he was doing when he posted the picture.

“I saw that this morning. You know, there’s a big time gap. And he knew exactly what that meant. A child knows what that meant. If you’re the FBI director and you don’t know what that meant, that meant assassination,” Trump told Baier.

Trump said the message was clear and intentional, brushing off Comey’s defense that the numbers were merely a “cool shell formation” he noticed on a beach walk.

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“And it says it loud and clear. Now, he wasn’t very competent, but he was competent enough to know what that meant. And he did it for a reason, and he was hit so hard. Because people like me. They like what’s happening with our country,” Trump said. “Our country’s become respected again. And he’s calling for the assassination of the president.”

While declining to directly call for legal action, Trump made it clear he believed accountability was warranted.

“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. I have Kash. I have Pam. I have great people,” Trump added. “And I’m going to let them, because if I tell you something, they’ll say, ‘Oh, I’m not going to get involved.’ But I will say this. I think it’s a terrible thing. And when you add his history to that, if he had a clean history, he doesn’t.”

Also, Trump made clear how serious he views the situation.

“He’s a dirty cop. And if he had a clean history, I could understand if there was a leniency. But I’m going to let them make that decision. But he knew exactly what it said,” Trump told Baier.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and FBI Director Kash Patel are leading an investigation into whether Comey’s now-deleted post was a veiled threat against Trump. Comey later claimed he was unaware of any violent connotation tied to “86.”

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