Just days after former FBI Director James Comey drew criticism and an apparent investigation for a post widely seen as a violent threat against Donald Trump, Evergreen State College professor Zoltán Grossman shared a similar message.
The far-left Geography & Native Studies professor posted "LXXXVI XLVII" — Roman numerals for "86 47" — twice on Facebook: once over a background of red hearts, and again on a red hat, Jason Rantz from 770 KTTH wrote in a new editorial.
Grossman's first post, on May 17, came a day after Comey was criticized for sharing — then deleting — a photo of seashells spelling out “86 47,” a phrase interpreted as a threat against Trump, the 47th president. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem called it a “threat” and promised action, the KTTH piece says.
Comey later claimed he didn’t realize it could be seen as violent, though he admitted it was political. Grossman, by contrast, offered no explanation or apology. Neither he nor Evergreen State College responded to requests for comment.
Rantz wrote: "If you’re wondering, yes, this is the kind of edgy 'resistance' humor you get from a taxpayer-funded professor at Evergreen, a college famous for lowering the bar so much it’s basically a tripping hazard."
Rantz pointed out a clear double standard: “When a Republican so much as tweets a mean meme about Biden, it’s national news,” but when the target is Trump, “suddenly, we’re all supposed to loosen up and laugh along.”
He criticized Evergreen State College for tolerating the behavior, noting, “If a student or staff member... posted a joke like ‘86 63’... the college would freak out.” But because the target is “the ‘wrong’ president,” Rantz said, Grossman faces no consequences and “gets to keep his self-satisfied grin.”
Calling Grossman a “propagandist,” not an educator, Rantz mocked his curriculum and accused the academic left of hypocrisy: “Evergreen and the academic left want you to believe they stand against violence and hate, but the mask slips pretty quickly when it’s their political enemies in the crosshairs.”