Kash Patel Says Comey Instagram Post Inspired Wave Of Potential Threats Against Trump

FBI director Kash Patel ripped his predecessor, James Comey, on Wednesday evening after Comey questioned Patel’s fitness to hold the post.

Patel appeared on Fox News’ “Special Report” hosted by Bret Baier to respond to comments Comey had made earlier during an appearance on CNN. Patel said that Comey’s flippant use of social media had inspired a wave of potential threats against President Donald Trump’s life.

Earlier this month, Comey had posted, then deleted a picture off his Instagram page of seashells on a beach arranged to say, “86 47.” The former FBI director was immediately blasted for posting the message, widely understood to be a threat to Trump. “86” is commonly understood to mean “get rid of” and “47” is a reference to Trump as the 47th President of the United States.

“Do you know how many copycats we’ve had to investigate as a result of that beachside venture from the former director?” Patel told Baier.

“Do you know how many agents I’ve had to take offline from chasing down child sex predators, fentanyl traffickers, terrorists because everywhere across this country, people are popping up on social media and think that a threat to the life of the President of the United States is a joke and they can do it because he did it?” Patel continued.

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“That’s what I’m having to deal with every single day, and that’s what I’m having to pull my agents and analysts off because he thought it was funny to go out there and make a political statement,” he added.

???? JUST IN: Kash Patel EVISCERATES James Comey — blames him for COPYCAT threats against Trump’s life

Comey should be LOCKED UP for incitement (at a minimum)

KASH: “Do you know how many agents I have had to take off line chasing down child predators, fentanyl traffickers, &… pic.twitter.com/RVDUQTH8w6

— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) May 28, 2025

Comey had previously attacked Patel on CNN, questioning his fitness to head the intelligence agency. Comey himself was fired as FBI director during Trump’s first term.

“Obviously, you start with the fact that the guy has literally nothing in his entire adult life that prepares him for this role. And so, that’s deeply concerning to start with,” Comey said.

“That is a daunting task for him. I hope he lets the career people do their jobs, but they’ve already forced out a bunch of good career people and sent a chill through the organization,” he added.

Comey later claimed he did not know what “86” meant before he posted the message to his social media. He said that he thought it meant to “get out of a place.”

“My wife and I were walking on the beach, and saw those numbers in shells on the beach,” he said, “Somebody else did it!”