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New York Post
2 days ago
- Politics
- New York Post
Charlamagne grills Eric Swalwell on whether Dems can be trusted after they ‘lied to us so long' about Biden
Radio host Charlamagne tha God spoke to Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., on Tuesday, asking how Democrats can expect Americans to trust them again after covering for President Joe Biden's questionable health for so long. Nearly a year after then-President Biden relinquished the Democratic Party's nomination, the cover-up of his purported decline continues to be a national controversy. When Swalwell argued many figures in politics are acting as accomplices to President Donald Trump, Charlamagne replied he should take a look at his own party. 'But isn't that all of y'all, though?' the host asked. 'I don't think so, I hope not,' Swalwell replied. 'I just finished reading the 'Original Sin,'' Charlamagne noted, referring to the new book by CNN's Jake Tapper and Axios' Alex Thompson that outlines the president's alleged mental decline in office and cover-up. 'So when I hear you talk, I'm like, well, what was the Democrats' excuse when they chose to be accomplices in the cover-up of Biden's physical and mental decline? It's the same thing. Y'all got on television and pretended to act like everything was fine, knowing behind the scenes he was not the one.' 4 Charlamagne asked Swalwell how Democrats can expect Americans to trust them again after covering for Joe Biden's health for so long. 4 Swalwell argued many figures in politics are acting as accomplices to President Donald Trump. 'I don't think many of us were behind the scenes, to be honest,' Swalwell said. 'I didn't spend much time with President Biden behind the scenes.' Charlamagne declared he spent zero time with Biden whatsoever, but nonetheless saw there were issues. 'You have your two eyes. I got it. I got it,' Swalwell answered, going on to argue there is a fundamental difference between how Biden and Trump acted in office. 4 Joe Biden looks on as he participates in the first presidential debate of the 2024 elections on June 27, 2024. AFP via Getty Images Later, Swalwell argued that the Democrats need to be the party of the future, 'because the past was rejected last November.' Charlamagne offered a barbed response. 'Why should we ever trust the Democratic Party after they lied to us [for] so long about President Biden?' the host asked. 'And I'm big on this, because I just read the 'Original Sin' and I'm just like… I think that Democrats have tried every strategy except for two things, honesty and courage.' 4 Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) speaks during the Hands Off! day of action against the Trump administration and Elon Musk on April 5 in Washington, DC. Getty Images for Community Change Action 'Yeah, well, there's a lot of people who are courageous right now in the Democratic Party. Our bread-and-butter issue, our 'dance with the one that brought ya' is healthcare,' the congressman replied. 'People have always trusted us on healthcare.' Later in the discussion, Charlamagne recalled a decisive moment in the 2024 election when then-Vice President Kamala Harris declined to differentiate herself from Biden during an appearance on 'The View.' 'Vice President Kamala Harris, the reason she did that on 'The View' is because nobody wanted to piss Biden off,' Charlamagne said. 'Biden wanted his legacy to be intact. You can read the 'Original Sin' and see that he cares more about his legacy and his ego and how the Biden name is perceived than anything.' The host continued, 'He put himself over the party and the future of America, so she didn't want to break away from that. I bet you she had staunch marching orders: 'Do not break away from Biden, don't make his legacy look crazy.''
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘86 47': Does Trump really think James Comey wants him assassinated?
On Thursday, former FBI Director James Comey took to Instagram to post a picture of some seashells he'd spotted on the beach. They were arranged to spell out '86 47.' 'Cool shell formation on my beach walk,' Comey wrote in the caption. President Trump — Comey's former boss and longtime antagonist — is the 47th president of the United States. The number '86' is a slang term used mostly in bars and restaurants — and also the military — to indicate that something is no longer available or that someone should be removed from the premises. But according to Cassell's Dictionary of Slang, "to 86" can also mean "to kill, to murder; to execute judicially." Comey quickly decided to 86 his own post. 'I posted earlier a picture of some shells I saw today on a beach walk, which I assumed were a political message,' he wrote in a followup post. '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.' Comey sounded apologetic. But apparently, his explanation wasn't good enough for Trump — or his administration. In a Fox News interview set to air Friday night, the president insisted that America's former top law enforcement officer wasn't just echoing a 'political message' on Instagram; instead, he was trying to get him killed. 'He knew exactly what that meant,' Trump claimed. '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.' 'He did it for a reason,' Trump concluded. 'He's calling for the assassination of the president.' Trump survived an attempt on his life in Butler, Pa. last July; the would-be assassin's bullet grazed and bloodied his ear. Comey didn't invent '86 47'; he simply observed the slogan while out and about. Whoever arranged the shells to spell out '86 47' likely picked it up online, where it's been circulating for months as a subtle shorthand for anti-Trump sentiment, especially on TikTok. "It's not a call for impeachment necessarily, or even an endorsement of some other candidate," the online publication Distractify reported in March. "It's just a signal of opposition." And this isn't the first time '86 47' has made the leap to the real world: The numbers were also spotted at a Hands Off! protest in April. ('86 47' merch — shirts, hats, pins and stickers — is widely available on Amazon, Etsy, Redbubble and eBay.) Etymologically, 86 has a long but murky history in the U.S. Most experts think it's rhyming slang for 'nix.' Some say it comes from 1920s soda-jerk jargon; others trace it back to the bar Chumley's at 86 Bedford Street in Lower Manhattan. Merriam-Webster acknowledges that some people have recently started using 86 to suggest violence — but not enough to warrant including that meaning in the dictionary. 'Among the most recent senses adopted is a logical extension of the previous ones, with the meaning of 'to kill,'' the site reports. 'We do not enter this sense, due to its relative recency and sparseness of use.' His administration is certainly acting like it. On Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem claimed on X that Comey 'just called for the assassination of @POTUS Trump,' adding that both her department and the Secret Service would now be 'investigating this threat' and 'respond[ing] appropriately.' FBI Director Kash Patel posted that his agency would join the investigation and 'provide all necessary support.' On Fox News, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard accused Comey of 'issuing a hit' on the president and said he should be in jail because of his Instagram photo. And a Secret Service spokesman released a statement saying 'we take rhetoric like this very seriously.' Asked on Fox what he wants 'to see happen' to Comey, Trump at first said he doesn't 'want to take a position on it, because that's going to be up to [Attorney General] Pam [Bondi] and all of the great people.' 'But I will say this,' Trump continued. 'I think it's a terrible thing. And when you add his history to that… If he had a clean history — he doesn't. He's a dirty cop. He's a dirty cop. If he had a clean history, I could understand if there was a leniency. But I'm going to let them make that decision.' By calling Comey a 'dirty cop' without 'a clean history,' Trump is framing his contentious relationship with the former FBI director as a one-sided affair. But it's far more complicated than that. A lifelong Republican turned independent, Comey was tapped by Democratic President Barack Obama to lead the FBI in 2013. He upset Democrats in 2016 by reopening the investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails two weeks before Election Day — and upset Republicans in early 2017 for leading an investigation to determine whether Trump associates coordinated with Russia during the previous year's campaign. Neither investigation led to charges. Trump fired Comey on May 9, 2017. In leaked memos and later in his testimony before Congress, Comey alleged that Trump had pressured him to end investigations, which some interpreted as obstruction of justice. An FBI inspector general eventually criticized how Comey had handled these controversies but also found that neither Comey nor the broader FBI harbored a political bias against Trump. In 2019, Trump's Justice Department declined to prosecute Comey. Regardless, Trump has long bashed Comey as a 'DIRTY COP' and 'Leakin' Lyin' James B. Comey' on social media. In 2019, the president went so far as to accuse Comey of treason — a crime punishable by death in the U.S. Whether anything comes of the investigations into Comey's 'threat' — or whether Trump and his allies are just trying to stoke outrage and dominate a few news cycles — remains to be seen. In February 2024, Trump ally Matt Gaetz (then a Republican congressman from Florida) boasted on X that his political allies had recently '86'd' three party leaders, including then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who had just announced that he planned to step down later that year. In 2022, the far-right, pro-Trump activist Jack Posobiec posted the numbers '86 46' on X. (Joe Biden was then serving as the 46th U.S. president.) Neither Gaetz nor Posobiec were prosecuted. Trump himself is no stranger to violent rhetoric — much of it far more explicit than a series of numbers that commonly connotes running out or getting rid of something. A few examples: Claiming in 2023 that calls to Chinese officials by Gen. Mark Milley, then chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, were so 'egregious' that 'in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH.' Wondering in a November 2024 interview how former Congresswoman Liz Cheney — a critic he characterized as a war hawk — would feel 'when the guns are trained on her face.' Reportedly calling in 2020 for protestors outside the White House to be shot. 'Can't you just shoot them?' Trump asked, according to a memoir by former Defense Secretary Mark Esper. 'Just shoot them in the legs or something?" Saying that if America elected Clinton instead of him in 2016, there would be 'nothing you can do, folks,' to stop her from appointing Supreme Court justices — 'although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is, I don't know.' The Second Amendment protects Americans' right to bear arms. Trump was not prosecuted for any of these remarks, either. In 2021, Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives for 'inciting an insurrection' by fraudulently trying to overturn his 2020 election loss — an effort that ultimately 'encouraged' and 'foreseeably resulted in' his supporters attacking the U.S. Capitol on January 6 of that year.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘86 47': Does Trump really think James Comey wants him assassinated?
On Thursday, former FBI Director James Comey took to Instagram to post a picture of some seashells he'd spotted on the beach. They were arranged to spell out '86 47.' 'Cool shell formation on my beach walk,' Comey wrote in the caption. President Trump — Comey's former boss and longtime antagonist — is the 47th president of the United States. The number '86' is a slang term used mostly in bars and restaurants — and also the military — to indicate that something is no longer available or that someone should be removed from the premises. But according to Cassell's Dictionary of Slang, "to 86" can also mean "to kill, to murder; to execute judicially." Comey quickly decided to 86 his own post. 'I posted earlier a picture of some shells I saw today on a beach walk, which I assumed were a political message,' he wrote in a followup post. '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.' Comey sounded apologetic. But apparently, his explanation wasn't good enough for Trump — or his administration. In a Fox News interview set to air Friday night, the president insisted that America's former top law enforcement officer wasn't just echoing a 'political message' on Instagram; instead, he was trying to get him killed. 'He knew exactly what that meant,' Trump claimed. '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.' 'He did it for a reason,' Trump concluded. 'He's calling for the assassination of the president.' Trump survived an attempt on his life in Butler, Pa. last July; the would-be assassin's bullet grazed and bloodied his ear. Comey didn't invent '86 47'; he simply observed the slogan while out and about. Whoever arranged the shells to spell out '86 47' likely picked it up online, where it's been circulating for months as a subtle shorthand for anti-Trump sentiment, especially on TikTok. "It's not a call for impeachment necessarily, or even an endorsement of some other candidate," the online publication Distractify reported in March. "It's just a signal of opposition." And this isn't the first time '86 47' has made the leap to the real world: The numbers were also spotted at a Hands Off! protest in April. ('86 47' merch — shirts, hats, pins and stickers — is widely available on Amazon, Etsy, Redbubble and eBay.) Etymologically, 86 has a long but murky history in the U.S. Most experts think it's rhyming slang for 'nix.' Some say it comes from 1920s soda-jerk jargon; others trace it back to the bar Chumley's at 86 Bedford Street in Lower Manhattan. Merriam-Webster acknowledges that some people have recently started using 86 to suggest violence — but not enough to warrant including that meaning in the dictionary. 'Among the most recent senses adopted is a logical extension of the previous ones, with the meaning of 'to kill,'' the site reports. 'We do not enter this sense, due to its relative recency and sparseness of use.' His administration is certainly acting like it. On Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem claimed on X that Comey 'just called for the assassination of @POTUS Trump,' adding that both her department and the Secret Service would now be 'investigating this threat' and 'respond[ing] appropriately.' FBI Director Kash Patel posted that his agency would join the investigation and 'provide all necessary support.' On Fox News, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard accused Comey of 'issuing a hit' on the president and said he should be in jail because of his Instagram photo. And a Secret Service spokesman released a statement saying 'we take rhetoric like this very seriously.' Asked on Fox what he wants 'to see happen' to Comey, Trump at first said he doesn't 'want to take a position on it, because that's going to be up to [Attorney General] Pam [Bondi] and all of the great people.' 'But I will say this,' Trump continued. 'I think it's a terrible thing. And when you add his history to that… If he had a clean history — he doesn't. He's a dirty cop. He's a dirty cop. If he had a clean history, I could understand if there was a leniency. But I'm going to let them make that decision.' By calling Comey a 'dirty cop' without 'a clean history,' Trump is framing his contentious relationship with the former FBI director as a one-sided affair. But it's far more complicated than that. A lifelong Republican turned independent, Comey was tapped by Democratic President Barack Obama to lead the FBI in 2013. He upset Democrats in 2016 by reopening the investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails two weeks before Election Day — and upset Republicans in early 2017 for leading an investigation to determine whether Trump associates coordinated with Russia during the previous year's campaign. Neither investigation led to charges. Trump fired Comey on May 9, 2017. In leaked memos and later in his testimony before Congress, Comey alleged that Trump had pressured him to end investigations, which some interpreted as obstruction of justice. An FBI inspector general eventually criticized how Comey had handled these controversies but also found that neither Comey nor the broader FBI harbored a political bias against Trump. In 2019, Trump's Justice Department declined to prosecute Comey. Regardless, Trump has long bashed Comey as a 'DIRTY COP' and 'Leakin' Lyin' James B. Comey' on social media. In 2019, the president went so far as to accuse Comey of treason — a crime punishable by death in the U.S. Whether anything comes of the investigations into Comey's 'threat' — or whether Trump and his allies are just trying to stoke outrage and dominate a few news cycles — remains to be seen. In February 2024, Trump ally Matt Gaetz (then a Republican congressman from Florida) boasted on X that his political allies had recently '86'd' three party leaders, including then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who had just announced that he planned to step down later that year. In 2022, the far-right, pro-Trump activist Jack Posobiec posted the numbers '86 46' on X. (Joe Biden was then serving as the 46th U.S. president.) Neither Gaetz nor Posobiec were prosecuted. Trump himself is no stranger to violent rhetoric — much of it far more explicit than a series of numbers that commonly connotes running out or getting rid of something. A few examples: Claiming in 2023 that calls to Chinese officials by Gen. Mark Milley, then chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, were so 'egregious' that 'in times gone by, the punishment would have been DEATH.' Wondering in a November 2024 interview how former Congresswoman Liz Cheney — a critic he characterized as a war hawk — would feel 'when the guns are trained on her face.' Reportedly calling in 2020 for protestors outside the White House to be shot. 'Can't you just shoot them?' Trump asked, according to a memoir by former Defense Secretary Mark Esper. 'Just shoot them in the legs or something?" Saying that if America elected Clinton instead of him in 2016, there would be 'nothing you can do, folks,' to stop her from appointing Supreme Court justices — 'although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is, I don't know.' The Second Amendment protects Americans' right to bear arms. Trump was not prosecuted for any of these remarks, either. In 2021, Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives for 'inciting an insurrection' by fraudulently trying to overturn his 2020 election loss — an effort that ultimately 'encouraged' and 'foreseeably resulted in' his supporters attacking the U.S. Capitol on January 6 of that year.
Axios
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Axios
What to know about "8647" after James Comey's Instagram post
An anti- Trump protest online featuring the numbers "8647" is now at the heart of a federal investigation after former FBI director James Comey shared it in a social media post. The big picture: Comey's since-deleted post stirred outrage among prominent MAGA voices online, who accused him of calling for violence against Trump. Comey later said he didn't realize the "political message" could be interpreted in that way. State of play: "86" generally means to throw out or nix. "47" refers to Trump — the 47th president. "8647" was meant to be a silent protest to signal opposition to Trump, online publication Distractify reported in March. The numbers also circulated in posts on TikTok. "It's not a call for impeachment necessarily, or even an endorsement of some other candidate," per Distractify. "It's just a signal of opposition." A Reddit user shared a photo of a demonstrator at a Hands Off! protest in April that included the numbers. Driving the news: Comey's Instagram post showed shells arranged on a beach in the shape of the numbers. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Thursday evening that Comey's post was being investigated as a threat. Meanwhile, Donald Trump Jr. said Comey's post called for the president to be murdered. Catch up quick: Eighty-six is a slang term meaning to "throw out" or "get rid of," according to Merriam-Webster. It traces back to 1930s soda counter slang to indicate an item was sold out and later was commonly used to mean "to refuse to serve a customer." "There is varying anecdotal evidence about why the term eighty-six was used, but the most common theory is that it is rhyming slang for nix," according to the dictionary. Yes, but: Using 86 to mean "kill" is a newer and less common usage, per Merriam-Webster. Zoom out: Merch with the combination of numbers is sold on Amazon, Etsy, Redbubble and eBay on shirts, hats, pins and stickers.
Time of India
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
'No Kings Day': Why Trump's expensive DC birthday military parade will face massive protest across 30 US states
Here are ten things you need to know about 'No Kings Day': Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel Indivisible and a coalition of pro-democracy partner organizations have organised a protest on June 14- Flag Day and US President Donald Trump's birthday—targeting a military-style parade planned by the Trump administration. Activists across the US are bracing for a massive protest on June 14 which marks both Flag Day and Trump's target is a large military parade the Trump administration is planning, described by the president as a 'big, beautiful' tribute to the country.-The massive protest against the Trump administration is being organised by "No Kings" coalition. The actions are set to take place during Donald Trump's military parade in Washington, D.C., on June 14.-Alongside local organizers, partners, and leaders from across the pro-democracy and pro-worker movements, activists across the country will come together for marches, rallies, and demonstrations to reject corrupt, authoritarian politics in the United States, according to to the 'No Kings' group, the parade is less about patriotism and more about Donald Trump. 'It's a made-for-TV display of dominance for his birthday,' the group said in a public statement, reported Newsweek.-Joined by Black Voters Matter and the Declaration for American Democracy, the coalition is calling for decentralised protests across more than 30 states. Their message is simple, 'No thrones, no crowns, no kings.' 'Real power isn't staged in Washington,' said the organisers. 'It rises up everywhere else.'-The purpose of the large-scale protests, according to the "No Kings Day" website, is to demonstrate that "from city blocks to small towns, from courthouse steps to community parks, we're taking action to reject authoritarianism."-This mobilization is inspired by the success of Hands Off! and May Day and is intended to once again motivate actions in towns and cities in every state in the country. Over 100 events have already been registered all over the country, an official statement read.-Planning documents for the parade obtained by the Associated Press call for more than 6,600 soldiers, at least 150 vehicles, 50 helicopters, seven bands and possibly about 2,000 civilians. Defense officials told NBC News that this kind of parade could cost up to $45 million, which Trump said was "peanuts compared to the value of doing it."-The "No Kings" coalition is recruiting volunteers online and working with local chapters in more than 30 states. Organizers say they expect thousands to participate in coordinated events, with more information to be released closer to June 14.-Law enforcement agencies in Washington, D.C., are preparing for heightened security, though officials have not disclosed specific plans. Both supporters and opponents of the planned events are using social media to rally attendees.-Since Trump returned to office in January, there have been major nationwide protests against his policies. The June 14 event is shaping up as a flash point for tensions between Trump's critics and supporters. Opponents of the planned parade have compared it to authoritarian displays of military power, but the president has defended the value of the "big, beautiful" parade to celebrate the country.
