A gun control tweet from Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump went viral after the attacks on Paris Friday, and even prompted a response from the French Ambassador to the U.S., who called the remark “repugnant in its lack of any human decency.”
There was just one problem: Trump’s resurfaced tweet was from January, after the attack on the Charlie Hebdo office.
Isn’t it interesting that the tragedy in Paris took place in one of the toughest gun control countries in the world?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 7, 2015
The old tweet even caught the attention of French ambassador Gérard Araud, who replied from his verified account:
The ambassador’s tweet has since been deleted, but not before a myriad of news organizations captured screengrabs.
Trump tweeted a message of support for the victims of the Paris attacks last night, before launching into criticism of President Obama’s handling of ISIS on Saturday.
It’s not much of a mystery why the tweet was resurfaced given its subject matter, and Twitter users were all too happy to condemn Trump for his callousness regardless of the timestamp. Just a sampling of the responses:
@realDonaldTrump what’s more interesting is that you’re so soulless & self-obsessed you couldn’t wait 5 minutes to be a dick about this.
— Game of Thornes (@GeoffThorne) November 14, 2015
.@realDonaldTrump If only we all lived in the US eh? Where mothers are shot with their own guns by their own children.
— Hilly (@HillyFoz) January 7, 2015
@realDonaldTrump Not every tragedy is an excuse to show the world how truly ignorant you are. But please proceed.
— Sean McCabe (@darthstar99) January 7, 2015
You mean an isolated, extremely rare incident, not a regular occurrence like here in the US? @realDonaldTrump
— Kragar (@Kragar_LGF) January 7, 2015
You @realDonaldTrump are a vile piece of trash with not a shred of decency or sense. Please crawl back into your hole & stay.
— Curtis Stigers (@curtisstigers) November 14, 2015
h/t Mediaite
…killed as many people as guns kill every 36 hours in the US.
And an idiot called Ann Coulter thinks another idiot called Donald Trump is just elected President.
helped demonstrate the huuuuge respect in which a President Trump would be held among our allies and around the world.
I think everyone, particularly politicians, should take some time for sober reflection before commenting. This is a tragic, complex situation that will not be solved on Twitter.
Chump just gave other countries a reason to comment on the absurdity of his presidential aspirations.