Barack Obama's poignant Charlottesville message trumps Ariana Grande on Twitter

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A tweet shared by Barack Obama in the aftermath of the violent Charlottesville protests over the weekend has become the most liked Twitter post ever with more than 1.4 million retweets. The tweet, which was posted on August 13, quoted the late South African President Nelson Mandela and was accompanied by a photo of Barack, 56, smiling with a group of children from different racial backgrounds. It read: "No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion."

The former Commander in Chief followed up the tweet with two more passages taken from Mr. Mandela's autobiography Long Walk To Freedom: "People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love. For love comes more naturally to the human heart that its opposite." Sasha and Malia's father's message surpassed a tweet posted by Ariana Grande expressing her sorrow following the Manchester terror attack in May.

MORE: Michelle Obama sends sweet birthday wish to Barack

The former president's message is now the most liked tweet ever Photo: Getty Images

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The 44th president's tweet set the new record with over 1.4 million retweets and over 3.8 million likes, according to Twitter. Barack Obama's poignant message reflected the feelings of millions of people in the face of the terrible events including the death of 32-year-old Heather Heyer and injuries of 19 others after a white supremacist drove his car into a group of counterprotestors.

This is not the first time the former POTUS has shattered a Twitter record. In 2012, it only took three words. "Four more years," he wrote on November 6, 2012 when he was elected for his second term. At that time it was thought that the strength of his message was not only linked to the transcendence of the historical moment but to the image he chose to celebrate that triumph. The photo attached of Barack embracing his wife and former first lady, Michelle Obama got 619,198 likes and 932,739 retweets, figures that seem very small compared to the feat these days.