WorldNetDaily’s obsession with an Instagram message began with an article from the discredited Gateway Pundit, which hyperbolically asked, “Did former FBI Director James Comey call for the assassination of President Trump?” The article was then filled with embedded tweets from writer Cristina Laila’s fellow right-wingers insisting that, yes, Comey’s picture of shells arranged to form “86 47” was indeed a death threat to Trump. That was followed by a May 16 article by Bob Unruh expressing approval that the Trump administration will throw the book at Comey:
He’s a “dirty cop,” but it will be up to Attorney General Pam Bondi whether to pursue charges against ex-FBI head James Comey.
That’s the verdict from President Donald Trump after Comey was found to have posted what many saw as a direct threat to the life of Trump online.
Comey’s message was “86 47,” where “86” is considered an order to remove someone or something, and Trump is the 47th president in his second term.
A report in the Washington Examiner noted Trump, in an interview, dismissed Comey’s “apology” and claim that he didn’t know what the numbers meant.
“He knew exactly what that meant. A child knows what that meant. If you’re the FBI director and you don’t know what that meant, that meant assassination, and it says it loud and clear,” Trump said.
“Now, he wasn’t very competent, but he was competent enough to know what that meant. And he did it for a reason, and he was hit so hard because people like me, they like what’s happening with our country. Our country has become respected again, and all this, and he’s calling for the assassination of the president.”
Unruh cranked out another article that day:
The Federal Bureau of Investigation knows all about the apparent threat to the life of President Donald Trump and ex-FBI head James Comey posted, then canceled, on social media.
And it will offer all the needed help to the Secret Service, which is the main investigative team for such cases.
[…]A former Secret Service agent explained in a report that was posted online that Comey was in for a “very, very, very long night.”
WND also published an article from the right-wing Daily Caller quoting director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard insisting that Coney “knew exactly what he was doing when he used language that echoed mob-style threats,” as well as another Gateway Pundit article claiming that “Associate Deputy Attorney General Ed Martin said former FBI Director James Comey is going to prison after he posted an assassination threat against President Trump.”
None of these articles mentioned, however, that the “86” threat has been used by right-wingers as well. For instance, a 2022 post by Jack Posobiec, senior editor for the right-wing journal Human Events, states “86 46,” and then-Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz declared in a 2024 tweet that “We’ve now 86’d: McCarthy McDaniel McConnell Better days are ahead for the Republican Party.” WND never demanded a federal investigation of either of them (Gaetz later insisted his use of “86” was “distinct” from Comey’s).
That silence tells us that WND is apparently good with threats against the lives of non-right-wing politicians. Remember that WND managing editor David Kupelian effectively admitted that his publication was issuing a de facto call for Barack Obama’s assassination by repeatedly likening him to Nazis and even the Antichrist.
That’s hypocrisy. That’s WND.