Called up for Trump’s murder? James Comey and the number 8647

Former FBI director James Comey has been targeted by the authorities because of an Instagram post of mussels on the beach. Republicans speak of a threat to murder US President Donald Trump. The mussels formed the numbers « 86 47 ». Trump, the 47th President of the United States, said in the broadcaster Fox News that Comey knew exactly what the numbers meant, every child knew that. « That meant an assassination attempt. »

Minister Noem speaks of call to the murder of Trump

Minister of Homeland Protection Kristi Noem accused the Comey, released by Trump in his first term, to have called for the president’s murder. Your Ministry and the Secret Service responsible for the security of the President examined this « threat » and would react accordingly, Noem wrote on Thursday to X.

According to the « New York Times », Trump opponents use these figures on the Internet and in protests. In order to understand the background of this controversy, you have to take a look at US slang etymology. If you look at Hollywood strips from time to time, you already have an advantage.

What does « 86 47 » mean?

The second part of the number column is easy to understand: « 47 » is the 47th President of the United States, Donald Trump. « 45 » was also Trump, like « 41 » and « 43 » father and son George HW Bush and George W. Bush. So far, so clear.

« 86 » is more complex. According to different sources, the meaning of the number always breaks in the direction « no longer available, removed, broken ». In the unofficial slang of the US military, “86” (“Eighty-Six”) is used to refer to non-functioning material or cancellation, for example an assignment.

In the World War II film « Fury », Brad Pitt uses the « Radio’s Eighty Six » phrase as a tank commander when his radio brings.

The origin of the term is unclear, but it probably goes back to the US guest industry in the 1920s: « 86 » is a bartender slang, either for a product that is sold out, or a guest who has banned the house. The historian Jef Klein provides a possible explanation: The bar « Chumley’s » in Bedford Street 86 in Lower Manhattan is said to have received tips from an impending raid from corrupt police officers during the prohibition. The bartenders should let the guests « Eighty-Sixen » out, ie through the door at house number 86, while the officers entered the restaurant through the back door in a different street.

Another possible explanation: « Eighty -Six » rhymes with « nothing », and this is also an expression of rejection, contradiction in American English – probably most famous from Elvis Presley’s « Jailhouse Rock »: « Bugsy Turned to Shifty and He Said, » Nothing, Nix – I Want To Stick Around a While and Get My Kicks « . « Eighty -Six » would therefore be « rhyming slang » – the concealment of a meaning by an inconspicuous rhyme word, in this case a number.

While all of this is speculation, it seems clear that « 86 » can mean that you want to get rid of someone or something or have already got rid of – voluntarily or not. However, and that would be the more critical interpretation for Comey: a variant of meaning of « 86 » in American slang is « killing someone, executing ». So it is at least in the « Chambers Slang Dictionary » from 2008 – mind you only as a less common variant.

Comey deleted the post and later wrote on Instagram that he had seen a political message in the mussel formation. He rejected that he wanted to call for violence against Trump. « I was not aware that some people associate these numbers with violence, » he wrote. Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. also accused Comey of calling for the president’s murder.

Trump had fired Comey in his first term in connection with the investigation into Russian influence on the US elections in 2016. At that time, the FBI had examined possible connections between Moscow and members from Trump’s campaign team.