Crucial Quote
“This installation was created to celebrate Texas culture, heritage, and our state’s central role in the American story. We are disappointed that someone defaced it with disgusting anti-Trump political graffiti,” Mahaleris told Forbes. “This kind of partisan attack has no place in an exhibit honoring Texas and America.”
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What Does ‘86 47’ Mean?
“86” is a common bar and restaurant term that usually means “to get rid of” or “to throw out,” according to Merriam Webster. Although it frequently is used to describe a menu item that is sold out, it can also refer to removing an unruly or intoxicated customer. Trump and members of the administration insist the phrase instead refers to a call to kill someone, with the president even claiming he thought it was a “mob term.” Merriam Webster says this can be an extension of the original definition, although it does not include it due to “relative recency and sparseness of use.”
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Key Background
In May 2025, Comey, the former FBI director who Trump fired months into his first term in office, posted an image on Instagram of shells on a beach arranged to form “86 47.” The former FBI director quickly apologized for the post, insisting “I didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence.” However, Comey was quickly placed under investigation, and later indicted by a federal grand jury for threatening to harm the president. A federal judge dropped the case later in the year, ruling the prosecutor leading the case wasn’t legally appointed. Comey was indicted again in April related to the post, and the case is set to go to trial in October. Since the Comey affair, the numbers have been showing up more in protests against Trump—most recently written in huge numerals on grass on the National Mall earlier in June.
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Further Reading
ForbesTrump’s Great American State Fair Faces Confederate Flag Controversy And Sparse CrowdsBy Antonio Pequeño IVForbesTrump’s Hyped July 4 In DC Faces 100-Degree ‘Extreme’ HeatBy Zachary Folk