MAGA World Keeps Proving James Comey’s Point

The threat is not out on the beach. It's coming from inside the house. The White House

by David Shuster

This week MAGA world freaked out because former FBI director James Comey posted an Instagram photograph of a rock/shell formation that read “8647.” But the Trump team reaction to Comey’s image is the bigger threat and should be the larger story.

Let’s back up. On May 15, Comey posted a beach photograph of the “8647” and added the caption, “Cool shell formation on my beach walk.” Most people, including the folks at Webster’s dictionary, define 86 as a slang term that means “to eliminate” or “to get rid of.” And Trump is the 47^th President of the U.S.

So, Comey’s post went viral and the former FBI director, fired by Trump in 2017, faced a torrent of criticism from MAGA supporters who accused him of threatening or encouraging a Trump assassination. Comey quicky apologized and took down his post, writing:

I didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence. That didn’t occur to me when I saw it. But I am opposed to violence, so I took the post down.

It’s hard to believe that Comey didn’t know what “86” means. But he certainly must have known, and it might have been his point, to show that the Trump team is 86’ing our nation’s rule of law and due process. Sure enough, even before the Secret Service or DOJ began its Comey beach photo investigation, Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s Director of National Intelligence, went on Fox News and said Comey should be in jail.

Gabbard told Fox Host Jesse Waters, “James Comey should be held accountable and put behind bars for this.” In other words, there should be no investigation, no evidence, no due process. Just lock him up, because Tulsi Gabbard, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and Donald Trump are mad at Comey and think he is a threat.

Sound familiar? Maryland father Kilmar Abrego Garcia was deported without due process and now sits in a jail in El Salvador because the Trump administration THOUGHT he was a member of the MS-13 criminal gang. (Emphasis on “thought.”) And that thought or belief, without a court hearing or judicial ruling, sparked the Trump administration to send Garcia away. The Supreme Court ruled 9-0 that the administration must “facilitate” Garcia’s return. But they’ve ignored that ruling.

Back to Comey. The Secret Service reviews public threats or statements like this all the time. Agents examine the source of the threats and make a determination if the person has a plan or is collecting weapons to carry out their threat. If the person does not have a plan and was just mouthing off, the case goes nowhere.

That’s because the courts have long held that free speech rights extend to public criticism of the President, and even saying you wish the President was eliminated. Trump himself has exercised his free speech rights against his political opponents. In 2024, Trump spoke at a public forum and lashed out at former January 6^th committee member Liz Cheney. Trump said:

she’s a radical war hawk. Let’s put her with a rifle standing there with 9 barrels shooting at her. Okay? Let’s see how she feels about it you know when the guns are trained on her face.

It sounded like Trump was calling for Cheney’s execution. And Trump’s rhetoric could have inspired violence against Cheney. But was Trump investigated or charged? Of course not, because as gross as Trump’s rhetoric was, the Biden justice department knew Trump was within his free speech rights.

I don’t think it was wise or responsible for James Comey to post the photograph. However, Comey has free speech rights just like Trump and the rest of us. And the Trump team’s over-the-top reaction is making the point that Comey may have been trying to amplify.

The Trump administration routinely throws out the rule of law and shreds our system of justice. That tyrannical, Trump approach is an existential threat to our nation. It is far more dangerous than any beach collection or formation of rocks photographed and posted on social media.

David Shuster is an Emmy award winning broadcast journalist who is best known for his work at NBC News and as an anchor MSNBC. He is a contributor to Blue Amp and has his own Substack you can subscribe to here.

---

Thank you for considering a Paid Subscription to support our work!