A tweet from Barack Obama responding to the weekend’s white nationalist violence is inching closer to becoming the most liked Twitter post of all time.
Amid the tragic events in Charlottesville, Virginia, POTUS 44 posted a famous passage from Nelson Mandela’s Long Road To Freedom autobiography, alongside a picture of him at a day care facility in Maryland in 2011.
The series of three tweets read: “No one is born hating another person because of the colour 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.”
“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
“People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love…”
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 13, 2017
“…For love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.” – Nelson Mandela
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 13, 2017
The first tweet has amassed over 1 million retweets and more than 2.44 million likes, making it the second most-liked tweet of all time, according to Twitter tracking site, Favstar.
On Tuesday, the post surpassed Ellen DeGeneres’ Oscars selfie from 2014, which itself gained 2.42 million likes, and could well reach the top spot in the coming days.
The tweet now ranks second to Ariana Grande’s post on May 22 following the Manchester terror attack, which reads: “Broken. From the bottom of my heart, I am so so sorry. I don’t have words”. It attracted 2.71 million likes.
Obama’s tweet is also the seventh most retweeted post on the social media site. The most retweeted tweet of all time remains an American teenager’s attempt to get free chicken nuggets from fast food chain Wendy’s.
HELP ME PLEASE. A MAN NEEDS HIS NUGGS pic.twitter.com/4SrfHmEMo3
— Carter Wilkerson (@carterjwm) April 6, 2017
Amid the popularity, some Twitter users memed the picture to communicate their love for Obama and their dissatisfaction with his successor, Donald Trump.
“so you just gone leave..?” pic.twitter.com/BHnwaMfIO0
— Jay (@HerFavLetter) August 14, 2017
— Pin Head (@PiercedSkull) August 13, 2017
when you realize Obama is no longer in office and your life is at the fingertips of an old cheeto pic.twitter.com/ARA0VgZ8xi
— cloutleb (@baeIeb) August 14, 2017
Saturday’s violent, extremist rally saw a car plough through a crowd of anti-fascist protesters, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer, a paralegal and activist.
Two police officers were also killed in a helicopter crash near the rally.
