Matt Gaetz insists his use of 86' is distinct' from Comey's threat' as MAGA accused of hypocrisy over term (May 2025)
www.independent.co.uk

... MAGA world erupted in fury on Thursday night over a social media post from former FBI Director James Comey, claiming that his image of seashells spelling out the numbers "8647" constituted a "threat" on President Donald Trump's life.

"He knew exactly what that meant. A child knows what that meant ... That meant assassination,'" Trump fumed in an interview with Fox News anchor Bret Baier on Friday.

Yet, while the Trump administration is investigating Comey and members of the president's cabinet are even saying he "should be behind bars," many of the same people raging that this was a call for assassination had previously used the same term to refer to their political opponents " including Joe Biden.

Matt Gaetz, the former GOP congressman and one-time attorney general nominee who now hosts a show on far-right network One America News, jumped aboard the outrage train over the Comey post. With Republicans and Trump officials falling over each other to express indignation over the ex-FBI director's image, Gaetz retweeted a letter from Rep. Andy Ogles "urging an immediate joint investigation" by the FBI and Secret Service into Comey.

Meanwhile, just last year, Gaetz proudly tweeted that he'd "now 86'd" former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, former Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel and Sen. Mitch McConnell from their leadership posts, adding that "better days are ahead for the Republican Party." ...