Washington: Known for his gaffes, US President Donald Trump yet again committed a faux pas on Sunday as he erroneously wrote that “138 million people” were killed in a string of blasts in Sri Lanka.
The near-simultaneous attacks on Easter Sunday at three churches and as many luxury hotels frequented by foreigners killed more than 160 people and injured over 450 others, shattering a decade of peace in the country after the end of the brutal civil war with the LTTE.
President Trump offered “heartfelt condolences” to the people of Sri Lanka and said the US stood ready to help.
The US leader, however, erroneously wrote that “138 million people” were killed in the attacks instead of just 138.
“Heartfelt condolences from the people of the United States to the people of Sri Lanka on the horrible terrorist attacks on churches and hotels that have killed at least 138 million people and badly injured 600 more. We stand ready to help!” Trump said in a tweet which was taken down after more than 20 minutes.
Trump’s remarks did not go unnoticed as the agile twitterati started poking fun at the appalling tweet.
“You might want to revise that death toll Donald Trump. Not everything is measured in millions. How ‘heartfelt’ can the condolences be if you aren’t even concentrating on the message of condolence when sending it out?” said former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah.
“138 million? Maybe you should wait for the facts pops,” wrote one follower of the US president.
“We are a population of 20 million. 138 million is mathematically impossible. Keep your icky condolences, we don’t want it,” responded another user.
