The hosts of “The View” pushed back on Alina Habba, former legal counsel to President Trump, on Wednesday, as she insisted that the term “86” means to kill. The ABC hosts were clear that it does not, with Sunny Hostin outright telling Habba “the dictionary disagrees with you.”
For context, former FBI director James Comey this week was charged, among other things, with threatening the life of the president in an Instagram post last year (since deleted). The image was of sea shells, arranged on a beach to spell “86-47.” During her appearance on “The View,” Habba echoed other MAGA figures, claiming that “86” means “kill.”
“The dictionary disagrees with you on that,” Sunny Hostin retorted calmly.
Indeed, according to Merriam-Webster, “86” is a slang term that means “to throw out,” “to get rid of,” or “to refuse service to.” Host Joy Behar quickly backed Hostin up, explaining that “86” is a long-used restaurant term that just means to get rid of or toss a menu item out.
“Do they mean to kill the meat?” she quipped to Habba.
Behar also pointed out the Republican congressman Matt Gaetz has used the term “86” before, multiple times, and hasn’t faced repercussions for it. To that, Habba argued that things need to be taken in context, before attempting to shift the conversation onto late night host Jimmy Kimmel.
Hostin didn’t let Habba off the hook though, adding that President Trump himself has previously posted a sentiment on social media that “The only good Democrat is a dead Democrat.” So, the host of “The View” wondered whether Trump should be similarly charged as Comey.
“I haven’t seen that post,” Habba answered.
You can watch the full discussion from “The View” in the video above.
