President Trump's message of "heartfelt condolences from the people of the United States to the people of Sri Lanka" over Easter Sunday's attacks lost a bit of its diplomatic grace after the president mistakenly tweeted that the attacks had "killed at least 138 million people".
The tweet, which remained on the president's Twitter account for over 30 minutes without change, prompted Trump's critics to point out the error, with some resorting to insensitive jokes about the size of Trump's inaugural crowd, and others saying they were confident enough to bet that Trump "doesn't have any idea where Sri Lanka is".
138 million? pic.twitter.com/JHYu0lgTHr
— Jeffrey Guterman (@JeffreyGuterman) 21 апреля 2019 г.
I feel confident saying I would bet trump doesn't have any idea where Sri Lanka is.
— b bright (@BrightCocker) 21 апреля 2019 г.
138 million? Are are high or what?
— Chowkidar Harshul Agarwal (@sarcasmistani) 21 апреля 2019 г.
Thank you trump, very cool! pic.twitter.com/Cv2XiBAQQj
— Sive 1 (@sivemorten) 21 апреля 2019 г.
it's almost as many as were in Trump's inaugural crowd
— Jeff Tiedrich (@itsJeffTiedrich) 21 апреля 2019 г.
Sri Lankans also weighed in, with some similarly voicing disappointment over the gaffe.
We only have 21 million people in the country……..this is just…..I can't even….sigh
— shiny_shi (@shianneferdina1) 21 апреля 2019 г.
Others didn't let the typo take away from Trump's serious message, voicing their "exhaustion" with terrorism and offering their own condolences over Sri Lanka's suffering.
I am #SriLanka
— Saurabh Purohit (@DAGR888) 21 апреля 2019 г.
I am Pulwama
I am Charlie
I am Paris
I am Orlando
I am Brussels
I am Nice
I am Munich
I am Berlin
I am Barcelona
I am Columbo
I am London
I am Norway
I am Manchester
I am Kabul
I am Uri
I am Mumbai
I am Madrid
I am New York
I am Ankara
I am Pune
I am Exhausted
What a terrible and sad Easter Sunday morning for those in #SriLankaBlasts. Lots of love to everyone there. Awful #EasterDay for our Sri Lankan friends and families. You’re in our thoughts 🙏❤️😪
— Vinod (@vinod_d007) 21 апреля 2019 г.
Others went after Trump's critics, saying that some people seemed to "care more" about the mistake than the attacks themselves. "How could you be that insensitive? Hundreds of people have died or are dying right now and you're criticizing a tweet? Disgusting", one user wrote.
Imagine if your first reaction to a terrorist attack is to point out a mistake in the tweet (when you know exactly what it means). Almost looks like you care about that more than the terrorist attack…
— Jack Thomason (@Thomason97J) 21 апреля 2019 г.
Fun fact? What in the hell is wrong with you? Its obviously a typo/autofill. How could you be that insensitive?? Hundreds of people have died or are dying right now and you're criticizing a tweet? Disgusting.
— arch_angel (@ella_k) 21 апреля 2019 г.
The attack on Trump continued in a neighbouring tweet in which the president issued his Easter congratulations, and in his corrected tweet, which he issued later Sunday morning.
All 138 zillion of us will. Thanks!
— Shugar (@GregShugar) 21 апреля 2019 г.
138 million people have just been resurrected!!!
— New Years Fish 🐠 (@fishboy147) 21 апреля 2019 г.
On Easter Sunday.
Let it go.
— Jane Stevenson (@50d4754021bf443) 21 апреля 2019 г.
Sunday's typo wasn't the first time that Trump has gotten into trouble for failing to run his tweets through a spellcheck or fact check, with the president's tweets about "hamberders", "smocking guns", "text massages", "lasting peach in the Middle East", and most famously, "negative press covfefe" grabbing users' attention over the years.
