President Obama's Charlottesville Tweet Is The Most Popular Of All Time

NEW YORK, NY — As President Trump spars with the media and commentariat about the appropriate reaction to racist violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, over the weekend, his predecessor delivered a quiet and powerful rebuke on Twitter to the KKK, neo-Nazis and other hate groups that fundamentally object to a society of equality and inclusion. And in response, President Obama's message had become the most-liked tweet in history.

Obama quoted Nelson Mandela, the South African leader who pulled the country out from the depths of apartheid, on the innate goodness of humanity and the artificiality of racism and hate. (For more information on this and other political stories, subscribe to the White House Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

"No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion..." Obama wrote in a series of tweets. "People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love..."

Watch: Obama's Tweet For Unity Becomes Most-Liked Tweet Of All Time

The quotation concluded: "For love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite."

But perhaps what made the tweet, posted on the day of the violence, as popular as it was — it's garnered more than 2.8 million likes by time of this posting, just over the top record 2.7 million likes — was the heartwarming picture Obama included in the first message:

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Also Read: Charlottesville Violence: Mourning, Love, Fear Mix In Aftermath

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Photo by Pete Souza/The White House via Getty Images