Donald Trump,
former President of the United States, said that former US Secretary of State
Colin Powell who died on Tuesday, was a disloyal Republican who made the case
for war in Iraq. Trump’s remarks slamming Powell come a day after the
84-year-old statesman died of COVID-19. Colin Powell was US’ first black secretary
of state.

“Wonderful to see
Colin Powell, who made big mistakes on Iraq and famously, co-called weapons of
mass destruction, be treated in death so beautifully by the Fake News Media. Hope
that happens to be someday,” Donald Trump issued a statement saying.

Also Read | Colin Powell was a warrior: US politicians mourn former official’s demise

Trump also branded
Colin Powell a ‘RINO’ — Republican In Name Only — and said that the former
diplomat had made plenty of mistakes. “But anyway, may he rest in peace,” the
former US president said.

Following the
January 6 insurrection on the Capitol Hill by Trump supporters, Colin Powell
had called upon Trump to resign.   

Trump’s remark about
the Iraq war is a reference to a speech that Colin Powell gave in the United
Nations Security Council (UNSC) back in the year 2003 about the alleged existence
of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Later, it became known that that was
not true.

A couple of years
later, discussing how he felt about having to come to terms with that error,
Powell told a US-based television network that he considered it a blot on his
career. “I am the one who presented it on behalf of the United States to the
world, an (it) will always be part of my record,” Powell told ABC News.

Colin Powell was
largely hailed as a national war hero in the US. On Tuesday, Powell died of
complications from COVID-19 after suffering from cancer. Powell’s death triggered
mourning across the country. But Donald Trump is not one to hold back. Trump’s
censure of the statesman comes a day after his death. The former US president
had disparaged John McCain after the Senator died in 2018.