Like WorldNetDaily and the Media Research Center, Newsmax manufactured a meltdown over former FBI director James Comey’s “86 47” message:
- Noem: Feds Investigating Comey’s ’86 47′ Instagram Post (wire article)
- Sen. Cruz to Newsmax: Comey Part of Deep State Undermining Trump
- Trump: Comey ‘8647’ Post ‘Meant Assassination’
- Scott Jennings: ‘Left Has Violence in Its Heart’
- Harrison Fields to Newsmax: Comey ’86’ Post ‘Reckless,’ ‘Abhorrent’
- Comey Interviewed by Secret Service Over ’86 47′ Post
- GOP Looks to Bar Comey From Federal Employment
- Sen. Kennedy to Newsmax: Comey Sought Attention
- Roger Stone to Newsmax: Comey Knew Meaning of ‘8647’ Post
- Pete King to Newsmax: Comey Acting ‘Cute’ With ’86 47′ Post
- Steve Hilton to Newsmax: ‘Not Buying’ Comey’s ’86 47′ Claims
By contrast, Newsmax devoted only a single article to Comey defending himself, a May 19 piece by Mark Swanson. And like WND and the MRC, Newsmax was silent on apparent threats issued by conservatives, such as Human Events editor Jack Posobiec tweeting “86 46” at President Biden in 2022.
Newsmax columnists joined the Comey-bashing bandwagon as well. James Hirsen huffed in a May 23 column:
To say that Comey’s comments regarding the number 86 stretch the boundaries of credibility is an understatement, especially when you consider who Comey is, the position in government he previously held, and the individual with whom the number 47 is associated.
As a high-ranking law enforcement official Comey’s prior duties included the prosecution of participants in organized crime.
Such participants routinely use the number 86 as a code word for “assassination.”
According to “Cassell’s Dictionary of Slang,” the number 86 means “to kill, to murder; to execute judicially.”
Perhaps surprisingly for Comey, the seriousness of his wholly ill-advised post appears to be increasing with the passage of time.
[…]If a prosecution against Comey is sought, it’s likely to be a difficult one, considering free speech and intent arguments.
However, time will tell whether other significant facts will emerge that justify legal action against the former FBI director.
In the meantime, many like me are still hoping that the haters’ hardened hearts are transformed.
Still sending up prayers, too, for the one who despite the hate, fights on anyway.
Oh, Hirsen’s very much a hater, and his heart is quite hardened against anyone who’s not as right-wing and pro-Trump as he is.
Clarence V. McKee weighed in in his June 5 column:
In this writer’s opinion, Comey’s threat reflects the views and mindset of many in the left-wing progressive movement, mainstream media, including left-wing cable television pundits, and their silent Democratic Party leadership allies.
If you want proof, see how many Democratic leaders in the House and Senate and their liberal media partners and pundits have condemned Comey’s alleged threat.
As far as I know, there have been none.
In this writer’s opinion, they’re privately sympathetic to Comey’s post.
I believe that many of the same progressives and media Trump haters who rightly condemn the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy (Nov. 22, 1963), and his brother Robert F. Kennedy (June 5, 1968) — sadly and unfortunately — in private would not be upset if President Trump met the same fate.
They loved the Kennedys but hate Trump that much.
[…]Hopefully, the DOJ will make Comey another example of “No one is above the law.”
Neither Hirsen nor McKee referenced Posobiec’s “86 46” threat, which means that, by McKee’s logic, they would not be upset to have seen Biden meet the same fate as the Kennedys and that they believe Posobiec is above the law.