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FIRST ON FOX — A sign featuring coded language threatening President Donald Trump and equating his supporters with Nazis greeted guests to an event last week headlined by Michigan Democrat gubernatorial front-runner Jocelyn Benson and U.S. Senate candidate Mallory McMorrow
The sign, displayed by local Democrats, said "MAGA=NAZI" and "86 47." The number "86" originated in restaurants to mean "cancel" or "throw out," but in underworld slang is frequently used as a call sign for murdering someone. The number "47" is commonly interpreted as denoting the 47th president of the United States, Trump.
Recently, when Trump foe James Comey posted to social media a cryptic photo featuring "86 47," it was taken seriously enough that Secret Service investigated the matter.
Earlier this month, Lenawee Democratic Chair Bill Swift and other county Democrats posed for a photo in front of a large sign with the phrasing in massive bold letters. The photo was then subsequently posted on Facebook by the Lenawee County Democratic Party.
TRUMP HAMMERS RISE IN LEFT-WING POLITICAL VIOLENCE IN CHARLIE KIRK REMARKS: ‘DEVIL’S IDEOLOGY'
Michigan Democrat gubernatorial front-runner Jocelyn Benson and U.S. Senate candidate Mallory (Bonnie Cash/Getty Images; Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)
"LenDems at the Monroe County Democratic Party at the John Dingell Dinner," the photo was captioned. Meanwhile, users in the comments chastised the local Democrat leaders for being "entirely embarrassing" and "alienating over half of your fellow citizens in the country."
Headlining the Oct. 11 event, titled the "John D. Dingell Unity Dinner," was Benson and McMorrow. Benson is polling as the front-runner in the Democratic Party for the race for governor.
McMorrow, a state senator, is fundraising well herself and is considered among those in the fight to be the state's next U.S. senator. The pair spoke at the so-called "unity" dinner alongside Michigan AFL-CIO President Ron Bieber and Michigan Democratic Party Chairman Curtis Hertel Jr.
Political violence has become a flashpoint in the upcoming election amid heightened sensitivity around the issue following the assassination of Charlie Kirk and two attempted assassinations on President Donald Trump.
A placard shows the lineup for the John D. Dingell Unity Dinner, held earlier this month on Oct. 11. (Monroe County Democratic Party)
"This sign was wrong. Especially now, we each have a responsibility to choose our words and signs carefully, and avoid anything that may be interpreted as a call to violence," Andrew Mamo, spokesman for McMorrow for Michigan, told Fox News Digital.
Just a week after Kirk's murder, McMorrow participated in a fundraiser for her campaign hosted by liberal commentator Rebecca Schoenkopf, who posted on social media mocking Kirk hours after his shooting. Schoenkopf, who runs a leftist Substack blog, mockingly reposted a news story on Bluesky with the caption "o.o" about people paying witches on Etsy to curse Kirk.
In response to Fox News Digital’s request for comment at the time, a campaign representative for McMorrow pointed to her two social media posts addressing Charlie Kirk’s killing, saying that she was "horrified" by it.
Meanwhile, Swift, the Lenawee Democratic Chair posing in the picture with the "MAGA=NAZI" and "86 47" language, got in hot water in January for calling into a radio show and saying Trump supporters should be executed.
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Lenawee Democratic Chair Bill Swift (third from left) and 5th District Democratic Chair Pat Ulanowicz (fourth from left) can be seen posing for a photo next to the sign outside the John D. Dingell Unity Dinner. (Lenawee County Democratic Party Facebook)
Swift reportedly called in to "Talk Back Radio with Doug Spade and Mike Clement," telling them that Trump is "an illegitimately and unconstitutionally elected insurrectionist president who ran on Nazi rhetoric" who had "a Nazi rally for his presidential inauguration" and that ICE agents are "Nazi collaborators."
Around the same time, the Lenawee County Democrats social media account also reportedly shared a post that called for the death penalty for Trump’s supporters, saying, "They should be hanged by the neck until dead."
In a lengthy statement to Fox News Digital, Swift defended his actions.
"We have not advocated for political violence and any interpretation that we have is false," Swift said. "We are fully committed to the traditional patriotic American principles of defending our democratic institutions and our Constitution, under threat thanks to Trump and Republicans."
"We know that President Trump campaigned on Nazi rhetoric and Nazi ideology and shared Nazi propaganda. We know that Nazi salutes occurred at President Trump's Inauguration. We know that President Trump and Republicans and MAGA Americans have continued to embrace this Nazi rhetoric, ideology, and propaganda."
Taylor continued, "We have no regrets about taking the photo at the ‘unity’ dinner. The principle of the dinner was unity against fascists, not unity with fascists. As such, we eagerly invite and welcome Never Trump Republicans and those former Trump supporters who have come to realize that Americans pay for the MAGA Trump tariffs, that Americans pay for MAGA Trumpflation, and Americans and American communities are victimized and terrorized by Trump MAGA policies."
Fox News Digital reached out to the Benson campaign for comment but did not receive a response.
Fox News Digital's Peter Pinedo contributed to this report.
