While others were paying tribute to Colin Powell, the first Black secretary of state and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, after his death on Monday from complications of COVID-19, former President Donald Trump took a different approach.
Trump criticized Powell and the media for positive coverage of the former military leader after his death.
“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,” Trump wrote. “Hope that happens to me someday.”
Trump called Powell “a classic RINO,” an acronym for “Republican in name only,” adding “he made plenty of mistakes, but anyway, may he rest in peace.”
Media coverage of Powell throughout the day highlighted the critical role he played in backing the Iraq war with his speech to the United Nations in 2003. Powell would later describe the speech as a “blot” on his record.
Powell had been critical of Trump and endorsed Joe Biden for president in the 2020 election. He left the Republican Party after a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol on January 6. Powell said at the time that he could “no longer call myself a fellow Republican.“
