James Comey Blames His Wife for ‘86 47’ Post on ‘Late Show’ with Colbert: Reference to Food Service, I Was a Bartender

Disgraced former FBI Director James Comey continues to dig himself into a deeper hole as he works to justify his infamous social media post call to “86 47,” which many interpreted as a violent threat to “take out” President Donald Trump.

An appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert Tuesday night saw return to the issue – this time with his wife Patrice involved – as his host doubled down.

Comey explained to Colbert the reference was something he thought was a harmless but “clever political message,” adding “[…] I remember when I was a kid, you would say ‘86’ to get out of a place. ‘This place stinks, let’s 86 it.’”

The host appeared to understand Comey’s explanation and said he too was familiar with the term “86” in food settings when applied to a drunk customer.

“I was a bartender, you would 86 a customer if they were getting drunk. Like, ‘Let’s 86 them, give them a low-proof alcohol or something like that,” Colbert said.

Comey also revealed he was strolling the beach with his wife, Patrice, when they viewed the formation of offensive seashells. Comey’s wife posited, “Did someone put their address in the sand?”

The couple stared for a while before Comey said he realized it was likely a “clever political message.” He pointed to his wife for recognizing the term “86” to mean get rid of from her time working as a restaurant server.

He also confirmed to Colbert the Secret Service had since called him in for an interview.

Comey took to Instagram late Thursday evening to defend his actions while deleting the image, as Breitbart News reported.

“I posted earlier a picture of some shells I saw today on a beach walk, which I assumed were a political message. I didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence. It never occurred to me, but I oppose violence of any kind, so I took the post down,” he said.

Comey was appearing on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to promote his new book, a legal thriller titled FDR Drive.

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