With one tweet, former US President Barack Obama said what Donald Trump failed to say in the days since a rally of white nationalists and neo-Nazis resulted in the death of a protester in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Now, his August 12 tweet – his first post in almost a month – has become the most-liked tweet in Twitter’s history.
The former President quoted Nelson Mandela in response to the deadly violence that occurred over the weekend.
His first tweet has amassed more than 3 million likes, with the three-post series being liked by 5.7 million users.
Since leaving office, Obama hasn’t shied away from commenting on major world events and political controversies. He’s tweeted about terrorist attacks, including those in Manchester and London, and John McCain’s brain cancer diagnosis.
Trump finally bowed to pressure to call out white supremacist groups after 32-year-old paralegal Heather Heyer was killed when a man ploughed his car into a group of counter-protesters in Charlottesville on Saturday.
Speaking from the Diplomatic Room at the White House on Monday, Trump said that hatred and bigotry "has no place in America".
"Racism is evil, and those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans," Trump said.
But just yesterday, Trump did an excruciating 360 on his comments, saying that "not all the fact" were known about the aftermath of the rally and that both the left and right-wing sides had "used force".
LISTEN: Mia Freedman and Amelia Lester talk US politics on Tell Me It's Going To Be Okay.
- With AAP.
Top Comments
If we all wore burquas, no one would see any skin colours, then we'd all be equal. Tony Abbott particularly should have to wear one over his Speedos.
So, Nelson Mandela wrote the most liked tweet in history and Obama quoted him.
Well someone else could have posted it and got the likes but they didn't. It was an appropriate quote to use at the time.
Nelson Mandela was a great leader, I guess it makes sense Obama would try and reach his level.
Oh Les, what a waste of comment. If you have a legitimate gripe about Obama, please do post it for discussion, but silly tit for tat throw away comments that serve no purpose but to display your childishness are just ridiculous. Post something worth discussing.
Yes, and it was acknowledged as such - unlike the speech Melania plagiarised from Michelle Obama.