An anti-Trump protest online featuring the numbers “8647” is now at the heart of a federal investigation after former FBI director James Comey shared it in a social media post.
The big picture: Comey’s since-deleted post stirred outrage among prominent MAGA voices online, who accused him of calling for violence against Trump. Comey later said he didn’t realize the “political message” could be interpreted in that way.
State of play: “86” generally means to throw out or nix. “47” refers to Trump — the 47th president.
“8647” was meant to be a silent protest to signal opposition to Trump, online publication Distractify reported in March. The numbers also circulated in posts on TikTok.
“It’s not a call for impeachment necessarily, or even an endorsement of some other candidate,” per Distractify. “It’s just a signal of opposition.”
A Reddit user shared a photo of a demonstrator at a Hands Off! protest in April that included the numbers.
Driving the news: Comey’s Instagram post showed shells arranged on a beach in the shape of the numbers.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Thursday evening that Comey’s post was being investigated as a threat.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump Jr. said Comey’s post called for the president to be murdered.
Catch up quick: Eighty-six is a slang term meaning to “throw out” or “get rid of,” according to Merriam-Webster.
It traces back to 1930s soda counter slang to indicate an item was sold out and later was commonly used to mean “to refuse to serve a customer.”
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