President Donald Trump mourns Aretha Franklin’s passing
Turns out there’s something everyone in this big, divided country of ours can agree on:
R-E-S-P-E-C-T for Aretha Franklin.
President Donald Trump took to Twitter on Thursday to mourn the music icon’s passing.
The Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin, is dead. She was a great woman, with a wonderful gift from God, her voice. She will be missed!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 16, 2018
Trump didn't mention if he'd ever seen a live performance by Franklin who died earlier Thursday at the age of 76 in her longtime home of Detroit. But in a way, she was the preferred singer of presidents, having performed at the inaugural festivities of three of Trump's predecessors -- and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from a fourth.
Former President Barack Obama also tweeted his condolences, including a photo of Franklin singing “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” at his first inauguration in January 2009.
Aretha helped define the American experience. In her voice, we could feel our history, all of it and in every shade—our power and our pain, our darkness and our light, our quest for redemption and our hard-won respect. May the Queen of Soul rest in eternal peace. pic.twitter.com/bfASqKlLc5
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 16, 2018
