Trump inflates Sri Lanka attacks victims by ‘a million times’ in new gaffe

“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 wrote.

It took the American head of state about half an hour to remove the tweet and correct his mistake. But there was ample time for the media to save a copy.

The tweet came after several explosions hit three churches and three hotels in Sri Lanka, reportedly leaving at least 207 people dead and over 450 others wounded.

138 people have been killed in Sri Lanka, with more that 600 badly injured, in a terrorist attack on churches and hotels. The United States offers heartfelt condolences to the great people of Sri Lanka. We stand ready to help!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 21, 2019

Trump inflated the death toll by around a million times. The number he tweeted, “at least 138 million,” is more than six times the population of the entire Southeast Asian country.

Trump’s sloppy style of writing and often childish-like choice of words in interacting with his around 60 million followers have turned his twitter account into one of the most controversial aspects of his presidency.

In April 2017, he was left red-faced after retweeting a post that called him a “fascist.”

The notoriously prolific tweeter first posted a link to a Fox news story which read: “FOX NEWS EXCLUSIVE: President Trump ‘seriously considering’ a pardon for ex-Sheriff Joe Arpaio.”

FOX NEWS EXCLUSIVE: President Trump ‘seriously considering’ a pardon for ex-Sheriff Joe Arpaio https://t.co/Rgw8l7i9Xl— FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) August 14, 2017

Things went horribly wrong for Trump, however, after he retweeted a reply by a user who wrote: “He’s a fascist, so not unusual.”

Looks like Donald Trump accidentally retweeted this reply from @MikeHolden42. Oops. pic.twitter.com/8XEhSx2umj— Stephen Jones (@SteveJonesPA) August 15, 2017

The US commander-in-chief’s string of reckless tweets stirred so much controversy that in June 2017, Democrats in the House of Representatives introduced the Communications Over Various Feeds Electronically for Engagement (COVFEFE) Act which called for classification of the US president’s social media postings.

The bill was aptly named after a typo Trump made on Twitter while referring to the word “coverage.”