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DNC 2020: Colin Powell speech irks both sides of aisle, Internet says 'nothing unites more than US bombing Iraq'

Critics recalled Powell's role in launching the invasion of Iraq which resulted in deaths of millions of Iraqis and thousands of Americans

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell faced a backlash from both sides of the political aisle after his full-throated endorsement of 2020 Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden. The Bush-era diplomat and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said he and Biden shared common values as he addressed the second night of the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday, August 18. Meanwhile, he slammed the Trump administration for sowing seeds of discontent and division among Americans. Powell insisted that Trump could only offer “flattery to dictators and despots" while Biden had the ability to restore the country's “leadership and moral authority" in the world.

“Our country needs a commander in chief who takes care of our troops, in the same way he would his own family,” he said. “For Joe Biden, that doesn’t need teaching. It comes from the experience he shares with millions of military families, sending his beloved son off to war and praying to God he would come home safe.”

"Joe Biden will be a president we will all be proud to salute... You will never doubt that he will stand with our friends, and stand up to our adversaries, never the other way around," he added. The establishment Republican had already thrown his support behind Biden in June, but had never addressed a Democratic convention until August 18. In recent years, Powell has supported a number of Democratic candidates, including Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

But Powell's talk of moral superiority and "shared values" with Biden sparked harsh reprisals among his critics, who did not lose time recalling his instrumental role in launching the notorious invasion of Iraq in 2003, which resulted in millions of Iraqis losing their lives to violence and deprivation, as well as the deaths of thousands of American soldiers who were deployed at the war-torn region over the years.

"Colin Powell is a Neocon WMD hoaxer, so of course he's appearing at the #DemConvention to endorse Establishment's puppet and denounce President Trump," conservative pundit Mark Dice tweeted.

"Thank you @DNC for listening! We've been BEGGING you to not forget about us voters who LOVE war criminals. Wasn't going to vote for Biden without this endorsement. #ColinPowell #DNCConvention," online satirist Vic Berger sarcastically wrote alongside a meme of Powell surrounded with hearts.

"Amusing to see people who screamed about the Iraq War now celebrate one of its architects all because they hate the guy in the WH more than they love consistency," right-wing firebrand Dana Loesch added.

"I know our memory is only 15 minutes long, but Colin Powell went on global television to issue the longest diatribe of absolute lies in modern political history, resulting in the deaths of a million people and him then getting rewarded with a DNC speaking slot," nationally-syndicated columnist David Sirota wrote.

That said, even some anti-Trump figures were also having none of Powell's endorsement for the former vice president, including liberal filmmaker Michael Moore. "Can’t wait for Colin Powell’s 'irrefutable and undeniable' case for a Biden presidency tonight! Nothing unites our country more than all of us fondly reminiscing about the US bombing, invading, terrorizing, & pillaging Iraq on the basis of lies this man told to the United Nations," he tweeted prior to the event.

In the latter half of his speech, Powell railed against President Donald J Trump, saying the nation is "divided” with “a president doing everything in his power to make it that way, and keep it that way.”

"What a difference it will make to have a president who unites us, who restores our strength and our soul," he concluded.