This week the Department of Justice indicted James Comey for a social media post of seashells spelling out “8647.” That put the term “86”—which in restaurant industry parlance means striking or removing something from the menu—in the spotlight.
From the Oval Office, here’s what Trump had to say: “If anybody knows anything about crime, they know ‘86.’ You know what 86 [is]? It’s a mob term for ‘kill them.’ You ever see the movies?”
We decided to take the president up on his suggestion, and checked “the movies” for 86 references:
In The Candidate (1972), Robert Redford is told to “86 the sideburns.”
In The Grace Card (2010), Michael Joiner plays a cop who is so annoyed by his partner’s singing that he asks “can we 86 it, please?”
In Make It Happen (2008), dancer Tessa Thompson says she’ll “just 86 the combo” in her routine.
In Chef (2014), Jon Favreau tells his fellow cooks that an item on the menu is going to be “86”-ed.
In a 2017 episode of the TV show Shameless, Emmy Rossum tells Richard Flood to “86” an ugly pocket door.
You get the idea. Trump is almost certainly pretending he thinks the seashells post was a threat on his life because he wants Comey prosecuted. Citing “the movies” as his support is laughable on its face.
We have a handful of movies to recommend if Trump wants to learn the true meaning of “86”. He could have screened them in the White House Family Theater if he hadn’t already demolished it.
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