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By Darren Hauck/Getty Images.

In the days since violence erupted in Charlottesville, Virginia, last weekend, President Donald Trump has delivered three different statements, each with varying levels of condemnation for neo-Nazis and white supremacists, and a seemingly mixed message about whether Nazis are, in fact, bad. The violence also brought an elegantly concise tweet from former President Barack Obama quoting Nelson Mandela, which he posted on Saturday. By Wednesday morning, Obama's tweet had received the highest number of likes ever, according to Twitter:

Nostalgia for Obama among his supporters has only grown since the day he left office; every post on social media, or public appearance by Michelle Obama, has been typically met with cries of Come back! But Obamas viral tweet, in all its calming guidance, followed by two more that completed the Mandela passage, arrived at a time when Trump appeared at his least presidential. It is the easiest thing in the world, as multiple late-night comedians have pointed out, to condemn Nazis; Trump, in three separate speeches, couldn't manage to pull it off. But Obama showed exactly how easy it could be.

It wasn't just an 140-character lesson in how to act presidential; it was also Obama besting Trump at his favorite medium, Twitter. Obama, with the most-liked tweet of all time, has beaten Trump here, a fact the numbers-obsessed president is not likely to miss. Though neither of the Obamas have actively spoken out against any of Trumps actions, their occasional public appearancesfrom Michelle continuing to promote fitness to Barack's occasional but pointed tweetsact as a counter-force to the ongoing D.C. turmoil.

We'll see how much longer the former president can keep things this subtle. With former Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush releasing a joint statement Wednesday condemning white supremacy, it's possible Obama will feel compelled to take a more active role in opposing the Trump administration.

But in the meantime, theres this powerful tweet, which like so many posts of the Obama presidency comes with a stirring photo (of Obama casually greeting young children at a window) that says at least as much as his words. (Trump has photos, too, but they convey something vastly different.) Obamas record-breaking tweet is still the first thing visitors see on his Twiter page. Trumps Twitter, on the other hand, features a retweet about violence in Chicago, another tweet that celebrates being home in New York, along with a seemingly random MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN all-caps tweet.

The former president has a bit of a spring in his step as he leaves Manhattan restaurant Upland.

Obama rocks his full dad-jeans-and-shades look as he walks the grounds of the familys Bali resort with daughter Malia.

Out of the Oval Office and onto the water!

Dad jeans? More like dad trip jeans.

While the 45th president and his administration began wreaking havoc in D.C., 44 kitesurfed into the next phase of his life.

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The former president has a bit of a spring in his step as he leaves Manhattan restaurant Upland.

By James Devaney/GC Images.

From AP/REX/Shutterstock.

By Duncan McGlynn/Splash News.

Obama rocks his full dad-jeans-and-shades look as he walks the grounds of the familys Bali resort with daughter Malia.

From AP/REX/Shutterstock.

By Matteo Bazzi/EPA/REX/Shutterstock.

Out of the Oval Office and onto the water!

By Made Nagi/EPA/REX/Shutterstock.

Dad jeans? More like dad trip jeans.

By Made Nagi/EPA/REX/Shutterstock.

While the 45th president and his administration began wreaking havoc in D.C., 44 kitesurfed into the next phase of his life.

By Jack Brockway/Getty Images.

Read more here:
Why Barack Obama's Latest Tweet Became the Most-Liked in History - Vanity Fair