White House Says James Comey’s Trump Social Media Post ‘Is Being Taken Seriously’

AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast

The White House revealed on Thursday that a social media post by former FBI director James Comey was “being taken seriously” after it was interpreted as a call for President Donald Trump to be “murdered.”

“While President Trump is currently on an international trip to the Middle East, the former FBI Director puts out what can clearly be interpreted as ‘a hit’ on the sitting President of the United States—a message etched in the sand,” wrote White House deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich. “This is deeply concerning to all of us and is being taken seriously.”

Comey’s post – which showed beach shells arranged into the numbers “86 47” – was interpreted by many, including Donald Trump Jr., as a call for violence against the president.

According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, “86” is slang for “to throw out,” “to get rid of,” or “to refuse service to.”

“Just James Comey causally calling for my dad to be murdered,” reacted Trump Jr.

After receiving backlash, Comey removed the post, claiming he had been unaware that the shells could be interpreted as a threat.

“I posted earlier a picture of some shells I saw today on a beach walk, which I assumed were a political message,” he wrote in a statement. “I didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence. It never occurred to me but I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down.”