“Jill and I are deeply saddened by the passing of our dear friend and a patriot of unmatched honor and dignity, General Colin Powell.”
That’s the beginning of President Joe Biden’s tribute to Colin Powell, who died on Monday at 84 years old from COVID-related complications. It continues, “Colin embodied the highest ideals of both warrior and diplomat. He was committed to our nation’s strength and security above all. Having fought in wars, he understood better than anyone that military might alone was not enough to maintain our peace and prosperity.” That’s a typical statement (even if it leaves out some key details about Powell’s legacy) for a president to make following the death of a respected general.
Meanwhile, here’s what former-president Donald Trump had to say about Powell:
“Wonderful to see Colin Powell, who made big mistakes on Iraq and famously, so-called weapons of mass destruction, be treated in death so beautifully by the Fake News Media. Hope that happens to me someday. He was a classic RINO, if even that, always being the first to attack other Republicans. He made plenty of mistakes, but anyway, may he rest in peace!”
“RINO” stands for “Republican In Name Only,” a term that Trump frequently used to disparage any Republicans who dared to not kiss the ring. Anyway, it shouldn’t be a surprise that this statement came from a man who thinks soldiers who died in combat are “losers” and “suckers,” and it’s not. But it is a reminder of Trump’s callousness — and all the gems we’ve missed since his Twitter account was taken away from him.
.@twitter let him have his account back https://t.co/OsBUxlfm2S
— gato fumador (@KweenInYellow) October 19, 2021
Genuinely don’t know if this is satire or not https://t.co/qPouxTSZmv
— Ryan Campbell (@BanUnsweetTea) October 19, 2021
This is an actual statement from a Former US President. https://t.co/4Zarld2bKp
— Peymana Assad 🏔🇦🇫 (@Peymasad) October 19, 2021
basically https://t.co/CdQaYI02ap pic.twitter.com/8tTJQPELdV
— A🦁 (@itsYDG2) October 19, 2021
genuinely believe Trump is more upset about losing his ability to post than losing the presidency https://t.co/6SQYYERg1t
— Brett (@BrettRedacted) October 19, 2021
He makes Marvel villains look relatively together. https://t.co/dMyCvsw9yE
— Niecy O'Keeffe (@NiecyOKeeffe) October 19, 2021
Given the chance to be gracious about someone’s death, or say nothing at all, Trump takes a decidedly different route pic.twitter.com/HMgFAiiRcK
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) October 19, 2021
Donald Trump's statement about Colin Powell is so crass he may as well have added emojis to it. Monsters be monsterin'. https://t.co/0n5yaM7iUz
— ✒️Eric Halliday ❎ (@Eric_Halliday) October 19, 2021
Is Donald Trump jealous of the amount of media coverage Colin Powell is getting for dying?! Anyway, to answer Trump’s query, no, you won’t get widespread glowing nice obituaries https://t.co/s9ElX7tbdm
— Rachel Love-Howseman (@rachlove31) October 19, 2021
Imagine, just imagine, if a Democrat and especially Squad member had put out a statement like this mocking Powell’s death. Republicans & media would be up in arms. But it’s Trump, so we all just shrug and move on. He is graded on a totally different curve to the rest of the world https://t.co/Kns8zV3RuS
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) October 19, 2021
Nah Jack gotta bring him back to Twitter for this, we are being materially deprived https://t.co/JuvCjn2R7a
— Q (@Qban_Linx) October 19, 2021
he was the best tweeter ever.. twitter goat https://t.co/4TwgNDd3tJ
— King Doug (@doug_DaBroke) October 19, 2021
https://twitter.com/IamJovonW/status/1450463100939931650
But anyway, may you all rest in peace.