Team Trump has accused Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of encouraging the assassination of the president through a controversial sign in the background of the shot when she gave a national television interview Sunday.
When the Democrat appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday from a remote site in Lansing, Mich., a sign behind her said “8645.” Trump is the 45th president, and “86,” at least according to Trump War Room, one of the Trump campaign’s verified Twitter accounts, means “killing someone.”
“Governor Gretchen Whitmer displayed an ’86 45′ sign during her TV appearance,” Trump War Room tweeted, adding: “86 can be shorthand for killing someone.”
“Whitmer is encouraging assassination attempts against President Trump just weeks after someone sent a ricin-laced package to the White House,” the War Room said.
Days after Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Secret Service intercepted an envelope addressed to the White House that held the deadly poison ricin. A few days later, a woman from Quebec was arrested at the border and charged in the case.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer displayed an "86 45" sign during her TV appearance.
86 can be shorthand for killing someone.
Whitmer is encouraging assassination attempts against President Trump just weeks after someone sent a ricin-laced package to the White House. pic.twitter.com/GzvtrjH40A
— Trump War Room – Text TRUMP to 88022 (@TrumpWarRoom) October 18, 2020
“In a statement to Fox News, Courtney Parella, the deputy national press secretary for the Trump campaign, said, ‘By Gretchen Whitmer’s own standard, displaying something encouraging people to “86” the President is employing dangerous rhetoric.'”
But Merriam Dictionary defines the term as meaning “to refuse to serve (a customer)” or “to get rid of, throw out.”
The subliminal message behind Trump appeared in bubble letters perched by a house plant on a coffee table behind her.
During the “Meet the Press” interview, Whitmer was asked about a Trump campaign rally in Muskegon, Michigan, on Saturday in which the president told the crowd “you gotta’ get your governor to open up your state,” adding “you gotta’ get your schools open.”
The crowd then chanted, “Lock her up,” prompting Trump to say, “Lock them all up.”
“It’s incredibly disturbing that the President of the United States — 10 days after a plot to kidnap, put me on trial, and execute me — 10 days after that was uncovered, the president is at it again and inspiring, incentivizing and inciting this kind of domestic terrorism,” Whitmer said.
“The president is at it again and inspiring and incentivizing and inciting this kind of domestic terrorism,” Whitmer said. “It is wrong. It’s got to end. It is dangerous, not just for me and my family, but for public servants everywhere who are doing their jobs and trying to protect their fellow Americans. People of goodwill on both sides of the aisle need to step up and call this out and bring the heat down.”
Whitmer’s remarks came after a group allegedly plotted to kidnap her in response to her coronavirus lockdown measures. Many have tried to tie to the group to the political right but have failed to mention that the group included an anarchist who posted anti-Trump videos, a Black Lives Matter supporter, and someone who had been pardoned by a Democrat governor last year.
Related: Whitmer Caught With Controversial Sign After Claiming Chanting ‘Lock Her Up’ Is Inciting ‘Terrorism’