Following the hatred and violence last week in Charlottesville, former president Barack Obama took to Twitter to spread his message of hope and kindness. While the statement was brief, it resonated around the globe with those who were appalled by the message of hatred and intolerance spread at the rally. The accompanying photo is simple; Mr. Obama smiling at four young children of different backgrounds with a suit jacked slung over his shoulder.
"No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion..." pic.twitter.com/InZ58zkoAm
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 13, 2017
Late Tuesday evening Twitter then announced that the tweet is now the most liked in history after surpassing a tweet from singer Ariana Grande earlier this year following the horrible bombing at one of her concerts in Manchester that killed 22 people, including some children.
The text is a quote from former South African President Nelson Mandela's autobiography which is centered around apartheid and overcoming hate. The picture was taken by a White House photographer back in 2011 at a child care center following the end of Sasha Obama's 4th grade school year. As of publishing, the tweet has 3.5 million likes and nearly 1.4 million retweets.
This Tweet from @BarackObama is now the most liked Tweet ever. https://t.co/wEjYaxIHI1
— Twitter (@Twitter) August 16, 2017
Mr. Obama's tweet is a contrast to President Trump's silence and refusal to condemn the neo-Nazis, KKK, and other White Nationalist groups for several days following the event. Mr. Trump would eventually go on to read a prepared statement condemning violence on "many sides."
