Obama Charlottesville tweet is now the most liked ever

William Cummings | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Obama's Charlottesville tweet is most liked, ever Former President Barack Obama's tweet responding to the violence in Charlottesville struck a chord and set a new Twitter record.

Former president Barack Obama still knows how to find the right words after a national tragedy.

With more than 2.7 million likes and counting, Obama's tweet Saturday quoting Nelson Mandela in the wake of white supremacist violence in Charlottesville, Va., is now the most liked tweet since Twitter launched.

The tweet broke the record at approximately 10:07 ET on Tuesday, Twitter said. It is also the fifth most retweeted tweet ever.

One woman was killed and 19 people were injured when a man, who had been a part of a white supremacist rally in downtown Charlottesville, rammed his car into a crowd of people.

"No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion..." Obama's tweet read.

"No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion..." pic.twitter.com/InZ58zkoAm — Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 13, 2017

The quote is from former South African president Nelson Mandela's autobiography, Long Walk to Freedom.

I always knew that deep down in every human heart, there is mercy and generosity. No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. 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 than its opposite.

Obama shared more of the quote in two more tweets, which got 1 million and 900,000 likes respectively.

"People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love..." — Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 13, 2017

"...For love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite." - Nelson Mandela — Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 13, 2017

By contrast, President Trump's first tweet in response to the tragic scene in Charlottesville got about 186,000 likes.

We ALL must be united & condemn all that hate stands for. There is no place for this kind of violence in America. Lets come together as one! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 12, 2017

The previous most liked tweet was pop singer Ariana Grande's post after the terror attack at her concert in Manchester, England.

broken.

from the bottom of my heart, i am so so sorry. i don't have words. — Ariana Grande (@ArianaGrande) May 23, 2017

Of course, not everyone agreed with Obama's sentiment.

Some users called on the former president to condemn the violence "from either side."

I call on you to condemn both the violent white nationalists and those that want to punch a Nazi. Violence is unnecessary from either side. — Mark Schneider (@subschneider) August 13, 2017

Others blamed the Charlottesville violence on Obama.

When we had a black president, he should have tried to bring people together instead of promoting racism himself. It got worse on his watch. — Mark Milligan (@milligangobig) August 13, 2017

Race race race. It's all you talk about. You Divided the country and still you tweet charlatan BS. Congrats. — Political HEDGE 🇺🇸 (@politicalHEDGE) August 13, 2017

Editor's note: This post has been updated to remove an embedded tweet from an account that could have been interpreted as belonging to National Security Adviser H. R. McMaster.