Former President Barack Obama’s tweet in response to the violence in Charlottesville, VA, is making history.
Former President Barack Obama tweeted a picture and a quote in response to the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, this weekend, and he has gotten a nearly record-setting amount of engagement from Twitter users. The first of his series of threaded tweets has accumulated about 2.6 million « likes, » putting it in the running to become the most popular tweet of all time.
Citing Nelson Mandela, Obama wrote, « No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion … People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love… For love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite. »
Currently the record-holder is a tweet from pop star Ariana Grande who told fans that she was « broken » after a bombing of her concert in Manchester killed at least 22 people, including some children. It has 2.7 million « likes. »
The third most-popular tweet of all time is far more lighthearted: Ellen DeGeneres’ Oscars selfie.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has fumbled while using the social media platform. He retweeted and then deleted two messages on Tuesday, one that featured a cartoon train running down a character intended to represent the news network CNN and one that called the President a fascist.
Also on Tuesday, after three CEOs stepped down from their positions on his manufacturing advisory council, Trump used Twitter to accuse them of being » grandstanders . » Shortly after that tweet went up, a fourth CEO also stepped down.
The President has come under criticism for his overall handling of the events in Charlottesville. On Saturday, instead of criticizing racists and neo-Nazis by name, Trump referred to violence « on many sides. » Only two days later, on Monday afternoon, did he explicitly condemn white supremacists. By then, much of the PR damage had already been done.
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