On Sunday afternoon, not long after learning thatKobe Bryantandhis daughter Giannawere amongnine people killed in a helicopter crashin the Los Angeles area, former PresidentBarack Obamatweeted thismessage:
“Kobe was a legend on the court and just getting started in what would have been just as meaningful a second act. To lose Gianna is even more heartbreaking to us as parents. Michelle and I send love and prayers to Vanessa and the entire Bryant family on an unthinkable day.”
Two hours later, PresidentDonald Trumpshareda very similar tributeon his own Twitter:
“Kobe Bryant, despite being one of the truly great basketball players of all time, was just getting started in life. He loved his family so much, and had such strong passion for the future. The loss of his beautiful daughter, Gianna, makes this moment even more devastating. Melania and I send our warmest condolences to Vanessa and the wonderful Bryant family. May God be with you all!”
The rhetorical similarities and synonymous languagedidn’t go unnoticed, especially given Trump’s noted disdain of Obama — and the Trump family’s history of echoing the previous White House.
“Trump’s tweet about Kobe is remarkably similar to Obama’s,” writer Aaron Rupartweetednot long after Trump’s tribute to Bryant.
Headlinesensued.
Trump, 73, actually tweeted twice about Bryant. Hisfirst message, an hour before Obama’s, read: “Reports are that basketball great Kobe Bryant and three others have been killed in a helicopter crash in California. That is terrible news!”
President Donald Trump and former President Barack Obama.Steve Pope/Getty; Mike Theiler-Pool/Getty
Allen Berezovsky/Getty
Trump speechwriter Meredith McIversoon explainedthat Mrs. Trump, in a phone call, had read “passages from Mrs. Obama’s speech as examples” of inspiration for her own address. “I wrote them down and later included some of the phrasing in the draft that ultimately became the final speech. … I did not check Mrs. Obama’s speeches,” McIver said at the time.
“This was my mistake, and I feel terrible for the chaos I have caused Melania and the Trumps, as well as to Mrs. Obama,” McIver said.
A White House spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday about the similar tweets.
President Trump hastweeted appreciablyabout Bryant in the past — and Bryant was not shy about sharing his own feelings about Trump after his turn to politics.
“A #POTUS whose name alone creates division and anger. Whose words inspire dissension and hatred can’t possibly ‘Make America Great Again,’ ” Bryanttweeted in 2017.
source: people.com
