‘A classic RINO!’: Trump tears into Colin Powell & ‘beautiful’ media coverage in wake of his death despite ‘big mistakes’
Following Colin Powell’s death from Covid-19 complications on Monday, former president Donald Trump tore into the ex-secretary of state, branding him a “classic RINO” and highlighting Powell’s role in the US invasion of Iraq.
“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,” wrote Trump in a statement. “Hope that happens to me someday.”
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
Trump went on to call Powell “a classic RINO, if even that,” and claimed he was always “the first to attack other Republicans.”
“He made plenty of mistakes, but anyway, may he rest in peace!” the 45th president concluded.
Also on rt.com While Bush & Biden praise the late Colin Powell, ‘war criminal’ trends on TwitterTrump’s statement received mixed reactions, with critics calling it “beyond the pale.”
Donald Trump is a disgusting travesty of a human being - and anybody sucking up to him in hope of political advancement should realize he’ll care even less about them than he did the first Black American Secretary of State. What an absolute asshole. https://t.co/t0PUEuFtHw
— Michael Marshall Smith (@ememess) October 19, 2021
Trump’s statement about Colin Powell tells you everything you need to know about what sort of person he is. Still amazing that 74 million people voted for him — AFTER watching four years of this behavior.
— S.V. Dáte (@svdate) 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
Neoconservative commentator Bill Kristol, who served as chief of staff to former vice president Dan Quayle, called the statement “repulsive,” while California Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell called on Republicans to disavow it.
Others, however, endorsed Trump’s tribute, calling it “fantastic” and “true.”
That entire statement is true, though. https://t.co/JQL43GnYNL
— Upstate Federalist (@upstatefederlst) October 19, 2021
This is fantastic and every word is true.
— Florida Man in Missouri (@FloridaManInMO) October 19, 2021
"but anyway, may he rest in peace!"They really took this man off Twitter and I'll never forgive them for that. https://t.co/lPx8QBSLkb
— Jovon (@IamJovonW) October 19, 2021
“Colin Powell betrayed the American people,” argued one American, who accused politicians and commentators of whitewashing Powell’s record.
Another person tweeted that though Trump’s timing maybe wasn’t “quite right,” there are “some hard conversations to be had between now and the future about the decision-making that led to invading Iraq” and “people like Powell aren’t going to look good coming out of these conversations.”
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