President Trump gave white nationalists a win this week when he ordered flags lowered to half-staff until Aug. 8. Because Aug. 8 looks like 08-08 on a calendar, and "H" is the eighth letter of the alphabet, and "H-H" stands for "Heil Hitler."

This is a real thing said on television by a real former FBI official. And not any FBI official. It came from the former assistant FBI director for counterintelligence himself.

Really.

“We have to understand the adversary and the threat we’re dealing with," Frank Figliuzzi told MSNBC's Brian Williams. "And if we don't understand how they think, we will never understand how to encounter them."

Figliuzzi appeared on MSNBC to discuss his op-ed, "I Predicted More Hate-Based Violence. El Paso Won’t Be the End of It," and the rise of white nationalism. His remarks also came amid a broader conversation about last week's mass shootings.

On Aug. 3, a suspect opened fire in a crowded Walmart in El Paso, Texas, killing 22. Later, on Aug. 4, a second suspect killed nine people in downtown Dayton, Ohio. That same day, Trump ordered flags at half-staff. Figliuzzi smelled a conspiracy.

"The numbers 8-8 are very significant in neo-Nazi and white supremacy movements," he said. "Why? Because the letter ‘H’ is the eighth letter of the alphabet and to them, the numbers 8-8 together stand for ‘Heil Hitler.’ We’re going to be raising the flag back up at dusk at 8-8. No one is thinking about this.” Open your eyes, sheeple!

"I know you’re keeping your options open there," said a very somber Williams, "but as chilling as that is to hear, you’re saying it is possible that someone who knows better is authoring or editing the words that show up and are read verbatim or are supposed to be read verbatim by the president?"

"I am concerned about who is writing his script and his speeches and what would fascinate me is what he’s rejecting," Figliuzzi responded. "So, it is possible that several iterations of this speech were given to him. Someone with expertise, and believe me, the expertise exists in our intelligence community and our law enforcement community, and our civilian population on how to counter radicalization."

A former top counterintelligence official embracing numerology to peddle a conspiracy connecting a half-staff order to white nationalists is a little alarming, to say the least.

"So those folks could’ve advised him on writing an excellent speech that would have created an obstacle on this path to violence that we’re on," Figliuzzi continued. "But he either chose to not take that advice or he’s not even willing to solicit the advice."

Here is a fun fact: The time the president allotted to marking the mourning for El Paso and Dayton is consistent with past shootings.

After the 2017 Las Vegas shooting, for example, flags remained lowered between Oct. 2 and Oct. 6. After the Parkland, Florida, shooting, flags remained at half-staff between Feb. 15 and Feb. 19. Next, after the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, the president ordered flags lowered for Oct. 27. to Oct. 31. For Dayton and El Paso, Trump extended the half-staff from Aug. 4 through Aug. 8.

Either the White House is being consistent or Figliuzzi cracked the secret Nazi code. As always, the simplest solution is usually the right one.

Also, it is worth noting Figliuzzi's fun-with-numbers routine did not air during a commentary show. It aired during a hard news programming bloc. Oh, and one more thing: The original version of Figliuzzi's op-ed contained a notable line. He wrote, "Instinct and experience tell me we’re headed for trouble in the form of white hate violence stoked by a racially divisive president."

We’re headed for trouble, trouble trouble

With an eight-eight, and that rhymes with "HH" and that stands for "Heil Hitler!"

...friends, the idle brain is the devil's playground!

We are being Howard Hill’d.